


Making Electricity

by mazzie (orphan_account)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fake Dating, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-04-04 15:38:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 88,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4143213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/mazzie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aomine would consider himself a good liar, great even. Except for the fact that he’s not the best judge of when it’s okay to let his mouth run. More often than not it lands him in trouble, but never so bad that he can’t find a solution. This time, though, he’s going to need a little help. </p><p>(Or: In which Aomine gets suckered into fake dating because he doesn’t know when to shut up.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Aomine digs a hole

Aomine really needed to know when to keep his mouth shut. Ever since he lost to Kagami and Tetsu at the Winter Cup, he’d become more like his old self, something that all of his friends--if he could even think to call them that--and especially Satsuki had said was a vast improvement to his end of Teiko days. Aomine wasn’t so sure. At least then he never opened his mouth and talked out of his ass, complicating his life and the lives of those around him.

His competitive nature had remained a constant, that was for sure. So in retrospect, he should have already known better than to fall for Kise’s jibes and Midorima’s stupid pompousness. In fact, he should have known better than to spend more than twenty minutes with his old teammates, especially when they were together. Unfortunately for him, unless he wanted to get off the train and wait for the next one (he didn’t want, he really, really didn’t want), then he was stuck with Kise, Midorima, and his chirping boyfriend Takao for the next forty-some minutes it would take to get home.

Aomine tried his damned best to not listen to what they were talking about, and it was going really well. Until his phone died. No phone meant no music, and he was forced to listen to the three idiots talk about…sex?

“Of course, maybe we should change the subject. It might be too much for Aominecchi’s virgin ears,” Kise, that bastard, babbled on.

He didn’t miss the look Midorima threw at him and he couldn’t help but puff up his chest and huff in order to protect his manly pride.

“Excuse you,” Aomine glared at Kise. “Says who I’m a virgin?”

“Typical response from a virgin,” Takao, another bastard, felt the need to contribute to the conversation while trying to smother his laughter.

“Obviously there’s nothing wrong with inexperience,” Midorima, the biggest bastard, cut in while adjusting the glasses on his face. “Perhaps Aomine thought it best to wait for a special someone.”

Aomine bristled at that. “Shut the hell up, you patronizing bastard!”

“Big word,” Kise mumbled to Takao who burst into laughter.

Aomine grabbed Kise’s bag and threw it back at him. “I don’t want to hear that from you, Kise! And I’m not a virgin!”

Except he was.

“I’ve slept with lots of girls! All with big boobs!”

He was such a liar. But he’d walk through Hell and back with Midorima on his back before he admitted something like that to _these_ guys.

He smirked, feeling smug at the looks on their faces.

“I actually believe that,” Kise said and Aomine wanted to crow. “But that’s not quite what we meant.”

Aomine’s smirk almost disappeared but he didn’t cave. He wouldn’t lose to them. Not in anything.

“Well whatever it is you meant, is true. Or isn’t. Depending on what you were saying. Anyway, anything you guys have done I bet I’ve done it ten thousand more times than you. And done it better.”

Aomine knew he should have backed off when he saw Kise’s devious smile. He should have realized that idiots One, Two, and Three were teaming up against him. He knew all of this, yet still wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“So, you’ve had gay sex, then, Aominecchi?” Kise almost purred at him.

Aomine was at a loss and he almost spluttered but this was part of the trap. So without thinking he replied just as quick, “Yes. Lots of it. All the time.”

He said it with such a straight face that he could see Midorima’s eyes widen in surprise. Good. That meant he believed it.

“That’s surprising, in fact.”

Offended, he stuck his nose up in the air and tried to intimidate Midorima. Not that it would ever work. “Why is it so surprising? I’m a wanted man. Everybody wants a piece of this.”

Midorima harrumphed. “As a matter of fact, just like that, even though you are an utter fool, I believe you. Though, obviously, I can’t imagine who would want to spend more than five minutes with you.”

Takao, that snickering fucking bastard, elbowed Midorima in the side and wiggled his eyebrows. “Eh, Shin-chan, maybe five minutes is all he needs. Remember when we first started out you only lasted--”

“ _Takao_ ,” Midorima growled, trying to be subtle. That idiot didn’t have an ounce of subtlety.

“Gross,” Aomine said. “I don’t need the mental image of you guys doing the nasty, thanks.”

“Why?” Kise looked at him, chin resting on his hand. “If you’re so familiar with butt sex it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Especially since you’ve done _lots of it. All the time_.”

Aomine could feel his cheeks warming, but didn’t look away. “Which is none of your business, by the way.”

“Except it is!” Kise said as if he just found out he won the lottery. “You totally made it our business by talking about it! So, who’ve you had all this gay butt sex with, anyway? Do we know him? Or were there many?”

“Shut up!” Aomine said. His face felt really warm now.

“His red face obviously indicates it might be someone we know,” Midorima said. Aomine turned to glare at him and even gave him the finger when he caught wind of his annoying, pompous, smirk. How Takao could put up with him was a mystery Aomine would never solve.

“I’m not talking about this anymore,” Aomine said trying to move on. “You guys are all idiots.”

Kise let out a dramatic sigh and slumped back in his seat. “So it was all a lie, huh? And here I thought Aominecchi might have had the pleasure of feeling...well, pleasure--”

“I knew it was a lie,” Midorima interrupted Kise. “Obviously, Aomine is always going to be the same.”

“Isn’t he?” Kise conversed with Midorima over Aomine’s lap, and they continued to talk about him like he was no longer there. “He almost had us going with that one, though. For a second I seriously believed that he had been open minded--”

“And open-bodied,” Takao interjected and Kise nodded.

“And open-bodied enough to try something that I thought was out of his comfort zone.”

Aomine was feeling a headache coming on. “Kise, what the hell, you bastard. We used to make out all the time back in Teiko.”

Was “open-bodied” even a thing?

Kise didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. Midorima, however, looked surprised. And disturbed.

“Wait,” he said looking between Kise and Aomine. “Are you guys serious about this? That’s a fact?”

Kise nodded sadly. “Yes, but Aominecchi never made any moves past making out. He never even let my hand go further than his belly button.”

Aomine’s face was now aflame, but he knew how to recover. “That’s because it was you!”

He thought it might have been a little too mean, but Kise didn’t look bothered. Instead he looked like he had been challenged.

“So how many guys have you hooked up with, then?”

“Two,” Aomine countered.

“Not counting me,” Kise returned, smirking like how Aomine had never seen except for on the court.

Aomine’s face was probably a permanent red by now. “One.”

Lie after lie after lie.

Kise looked at him expectantly, but this line, Aomine would absolutely not cross. Never.

“Fuck off, Kise! Who I have gay butt sex with is none of your business!”

Takao leaned in to Midorima but didn’t whisper, “So that means it’s an ongoing thing.”

“You shut up, too!”

“It’s because he’s a liar, obviously,” Midorima sniffed.

“I’m not a liar!” Aomine almost shouted, now thoroughly riled up. “For the last time, it’s just none of your business.”

Kise scoffed, something Aomine often forgot he did, what with that pretty face of his. “Since when are you discreet? To put it like Midorimacchi, obviously you’re a liar.”

Aomine stayed silent and for a few blissful seconds he enjoyed the peace in his head.

“Is it Kuroko?” Takao had to be the one to ask.

Aomine was going to choke on his own spit if he didn’t get off this train. He was too busy with his coughing fit to pay any attention to the three idiots now coming up with their own theories.

“No, it’s not Tetsu!” Aomine coughed out once he caught his breath. “Jesus, that’s disgusting. What’s wrong with you?”

Oh crap, maybe he fucked up just then. He supposed he probably could’ve asked Tetsu to help him with his lie. On the other hand, knowing that little shit he’d leave Aomine to his own demise.

Kise was completely affronted by that statement and he elbowed Aomine right in the gut. “How rude, Aominecchi! You take it back! There’s nothing disgusting about Kurokocchi! You’re the disgusting one!”

“I’m not taking back shit!” Aomine elbowed Kise right back. “Now stop talking about my sex life or do I have to write it on all of your dumbass foreheads? None. Of. Your. Business!”

Kise sighed dramatically again. “Look at Aominecchi struggling to keep up the lie. It’s okay, Aominecchi. We’ll play along with your not-a-virgin facade.”

Aomine closed his eyes and groaned. “I’m going to kill you. I’m serious. This is how you die.”

“So is it someone we know?” Takao went on as if death threats and gut jabs hadn’t happened.

“No,” Aomine didn’t even care anymore.

“So that means, in fact, that it is,” Midorima said. Since when did he play along with Kise and Takao? Aomine had thought Midorima thought he was better than that.

“Ah! Murasakibaracchi?”

Aomine wanted to barf.

“No? Then...surely it can’t be Akashicchi!”

“Obviously if it was Akashi I would have heard about it,” Midorima said probably pushing up his glasses.

Aomine grunted. “Not if he didn’t want you to know.”

He opened his eyes again when his comment went unanswered. Kise, Midorima, and Takao had their eyes wide and mouths opened in perfect O’s. If they weren’t being so stupid Aomine would have laughed at the hilarity of it.

“Oh my god it’s not Akashi,” he said in disbelief. Hanging out with these people was gravely bad for his health.

He was about two stops away from where he was supposed to get off the train. It was two more stops. He could definitely hold out until then.

“So it’s not Kurokocchi, it’s not Murasakibaracchi, or Akashicchi...then someone from your team?”

“Kise,” Aomine almost begged. “Please stop. Those might be your last words.”

Kise was about to say something, but was interrupted by the speakers in the train.

“ _Attention all passengers, we are experiencing a minor delay. The train will be moving shortly. As a courtesy, passengers may exit the train now_.”

Aomine stood up. “Alright you dumb suckers, this is where I leave you because there’s no way in hell I’m spending another second with you losers--gah!”

Kise had pinched Aomine’s nose and squeezed, clinging to him to pull him back down.

“GKise, gwhat da fuck!” Aomine said with nasally voice that made him want to punch Kise. So he did.

“Gah Aominecchi that hurt!”

“Den let go you asshole!” Aomine brought up his hand to slap Kise in the ribs but Kise just squeezed his nose harder. “You’re going to ribp by gnose off!”

“Tell me who you’re sleeping with!”

“Fugck yo--ow!”

“Aominecchi you’re a liar!”

The train started moving again and Aomine’s eyes widened. “No. No, no, no--wait!”

But it was too late. He shoved Kise away from him and sat down in defeat. This was his karma for being an asshole. And this was what he got for lying to Kise.

“You guys are imbeciles,” Midorima said, looking at them with distaste. Aomine flicked him off.

“Imayoshi-senpai.”

_Slap!_

“Ow, ow. Okay, then. Wakamatsu-senpai--don’t hit me again! Is it Sakurai-kun?”

Aomine glared at Kise. “It’s not Ryo either. Are you ever going to shut up about it?”

Kise grinned. “Never. And Midorimacchi and Takao-kun can help pester you.”

Aomine didn’t say anything, but he definitely did not want to give Kise the satisfaction that he was right. It was too late. He’d take this secret to the grave.

“Come on give me a hint at least!”

“Kise, you’re so annoying.”

“Obviously it will be over much quicker if you say who it is.” Midorima that fucking gossip.

“Midorima, you’re so annoying.”

“Why don’t you just ask Aomine’s friend? Momoi?” Takao put in oh so helpfully.

Aomine tensed. No way. If Satsuki got involved then he would seriously never hear the end of it. She’d pester him more than Kise. Like, way more. And then she’d probably find out the truth. Who was he kidding, of course she would know. And she gossiped as much as the rest of them. He was screwed. So screwed. They’d know he was a liar and then he’d die still embarrassed.

“Okay, okay, wait,” he said quickly. “I give. I’ll tell you who it is.”

His palms were getting clammy. His heart was racing and his mouth was getting dry. The line that he said he wouldn't cross was being crossed. By him.

“But you can’t tell anyone. Especially Tetsu and Satsuki.”

“Why?” all three asked at the same time.

Lie after lie after lie after lie after lie.

“Because it’s supposed to be a secret.” He didn’t even feel bad anymore. He was numb to the shit he was putting himself through. But if worst came to absolute worst he could turn this into an escape plan.

Didn’t stop him from being mortified, though.

“Seriously, you can’t even tell him that you know. Or that I told you. He’ll be so mad and he’s absolutely terrifying when he’s angry.” This was entirely, true of course, but Aomine would never ever admit to him that he was scared of him. Because he wasn’t.

“It’s someone you know,” Aomine said stalling. “Do you guys swear not to say a word to anyone?”

Kise, Midorima, and Takao all shut up and nodded. Aomine took a deep breath. This was it. No going back now. He was pretty sure his life was about to change. Probably for the worst of the absolute worst.

“It’s Kagami.”

He held his breath. Waiting for them to call him out on it.

“Eh?” Kise blinked. “Kagamicchi?”

Takao and Midorima looked at each other.

“That,” Midorima said pushing up his glasses for like the sixteenth time. “Makes a lot of sense.”

Aomine wanted to yell. What the hell was that supposed to mean! How the hell did that make sense! It was obviously fake! He wasn’t even sure he was interested in guys but he sure as hell wasn’t interested in someone like Kagami! He just named him because he was conveniently scary!

Shit!

“Kagamicchi never said anything,” Kise said frowning. Was Kise close to Kagami?

“Because he wanted it a secret, I said. Anyway, I’m not crazy about the fact that you guys know so can you please move along now? You guys have pissed me off enough already.”

They all stayed silent. Until Takao started laughing. Aomine’s head was going to explode.

“Sorry,” Takao said between giggles. “It’s just...we’ve been trying to get you two--”

He cut off when Midorima elbowed him but just kept laughing.

“How often do you guys have sex?” Kise looked too interested. “I know Kagamicchi’s wild, does it happen, like, everyday?”

“Nope, that’s it. That’s enough. I’m done. I told you what you wanted and you promised to leave me alone.”

Aomine sat in complete silence the entire time he had left on the train. He ignored everything that was said to him, even though after the fourth time it stopped being about Kagami. When the train finally got to his stop he stood up and looked at the idiots and flicked them off with both hands. He made them swear to keep the revelation a secret and walked home praying he would be so lucky.

****  
  
  



	2. aftermath of a revelation

Aomine was blindfolded and his feet felt like they were glued down to the floor he was standing on. His whole body felt paralyzed and whatever words he tried to make were not forming. He was frozen in place and after what felt like an eternity he felt someone remove the cloth covering his eyes. The first person he saw was Tetsu and he glared, but Tetsu wore a blank, unreadable expression. He was dressed fucking weird, too, like the Pope.

“Tetsu what the hell?” he finally managed to say, though he wasn’t sure how. His tongue felt heavy and his words were coming out slurred. “Where the hell are we?” he asked in a voice that sounded far away, echoed and in slow motion. 

“What do you mean, Aomine-kun?” Tetsu replied looking at him with slight concern. “Surely you can’t have forgotten today? Take a look around.” 

Completely stunned he did as Tetsu asked and shifted his gaze around the room, or rather, the space they were in. 

There was no ceiling and scattered around were medium sized area rugs with people sitting on them. He recognized some of them. Satsuki was there, crying for some reason, next to Kise who looked ridiculous in a pink boa. Even Ryo was there apologizing to a toad. 

“Ahomine.” 

He heard the voice, as smooth as velvet, come from his side, and when Aomine went to find the source his eyes nearly popped out of his head. 

“K-Kagami?!” he stuttered. 

It was Kagami, alright. He was dressed in a dark violet tuxedo, hair slicked back and giving him the world’s most dazzling smile, as if he were the hundreds of burgers he was about to consume. 

Aomine tried to turn away, tried to run away, but he was still frozen in place, his body feeling heavier than before, helpless to what was happening around him. 

“Tetsu,” he tried to say but like in a horror movie, his mouth was wired shut. 

“Let’s begin then,” Tetsu said and he raised both arms, palms facing up. “We are gathered here today to celebrate Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun joining in holy matrimony…” 

His voice was fading out and Aomine still couldn’t open his mouth to protest. His hands felt sweaty, sticky, and the more he panicked the more his arms felt like they were turning into limp noodles. He looked down to see what was going on with his feet and if he thought he was shocked and confused before then all of that was just a warm up for what his virgin eyes saw next. 

He was dressed in the frilliest, puffiest, ugliest white wedding gown he had ever seen. 

Like having a bucket of ice water poured over his head he felt dread, worse, trepidation like he’d never felt before. No, no, no, no, no, no, _no_! Why was _he_ the one in the dress?! 

While he was too busy freaking out Tetsu had finished the sermon and bells were ringing. All around the space, as if the sound was coming through the open roof Tetsu’s voice resonated, “Surely you can’t have forgotten today...” fading out and echoing over and over. 

From the open sky Kise’s disembodied head came down, voice echoing, deeper than his usual and sinister, “You’re a virgin liar, Aominecchi...a virgin liar…” 

Everything was moving so fast yet Aomine saw everything go in slow motion. Kagami leaned in--to kiss him?!--and three things happened at once. 

The floor dissolved from underneath his feet at the same time that Aomine’s real life bedroom door slammed opened, succeeding in waking him from the world’s most horrid nightmare and causing him to violently roll out of bed, tangled in his bed sheets. 

Relieved and disoriented, he looked down at the white sheets tangled around both of his legs, remembered the horrible wedding dress, and looked up at the intruder with horror apparent on his face. 

“Dai-chan, you overslept!” 

* * *

“You’re in a foul mood, Aomine-kun.” 

 _Foul_ didn’t even begin to cut it. Not only had he suffered a rude awakening in the morning (and a grim reminder of his tendency to make very stupid decisions on impulse), but Satsuki had dragged him out of his house for a day out and about with Tetsu, which would normally be great, except he was third wheeling it. Why couldn’t Satsuki have her stupid dates with Tetsu without him? 

“Your aura seems more vicious than Kagami-kun’s usual.” 

“Don’t talk to me about that guy right now,” Aomine grumbled. 

It had been about two hours since he’d woken up from the horrible nightmare that was his and Kagami’s wedding, about two weeks since he’d straight up lied to Kise and Midorima, and about two minutes since Tetsu had said something to completely piss him off. (The first being, “Kise-kun will be joining us shortly.”) 

And it had been about a hundred hours too late since he’d accepted his fate. If he had learned from all of his past mistakes and actually took time to reflect on his actions, perhaps he could have avoided all the puddles he walked into, both literally and figuratively. It had been a rough morning. 

He had hoped for many things this winter break: nice weather, cute girls, free food, Kagami disappearing to America for a bit, new shoes, avoiding Kagami, Mai-chan’s new special edition sexy winter wear cover magazine, and most importantly for him and Kagami to not cross paths. 

Sure, it was always great playing ball with him, but ever since he’d used him in a blatant lie to save his own ass he hadn’t felt like seeing Kagami. Kagami hadn’t tried either and Aomine had taken it as a sign that things would remain easy for him. No one had bugged him; therefore he hadn’t had to open his mouth to spew absurdities. 

“Cheer up, Dai-chan,” Satsuki chimed in. “No one likes a brooder.” 

Aomine was about to say something, probably tell them to kiss his brooding ass but Tetsu seemed to guess it and interjected before he could. 

"Did something happen with you and Kagami-kun?" 

Aomine felt all the blood in his body freeze. 

Shit, shit, shit someone told Tetsu? 

There was no way in hell he'd give anyone the satisfaction that they'd one-upped him. Playing dumb was his best option. 

"Something like what? I haven't even talked to that guy in like two weeks." 

"Oh, is that why you're so bitter?" Tetsu looked at him with those unreadable eyes and Aomine almost opened his mouth. 

Almost. 

"Kagami-kun broke his phone and hasn't bothered to replace it yet. Please don't take it personal that he hasn't replied to your messages." 

"Who's taking what personal?!" So much for not opening his mouth. "And I definitely wasn't texting him!" 

Sometimes Aomine liked to think the universe worked in his favor. Every now and then, despite all the bullshit, a little sprinkle of good fortune would happen upon him and though he'd never regard himself a believer of Midorima's caliber, it was enough to keep him superstitious. If Kagami had broken his phone then that meant Kise probably hadn’t had a chance to pester him about his fake relationship. 

When Kise finally showed up--late, much to Aomine’s annoyance--he wandered straight over to Aomine and draped an arm around his shoulders. 

“Long time no see, Aominecchi!” 

“Not long enough, to be honest,” Aomine bit back. “Why are you here anyway?” 

Kise ignored Aomine’s slight insult and made a show of looking around. “Where’s Kagamicchi?” 

Aomine’s body tensed under Kise’s arm and a sidelong glance at the blond was enough to show Aomine that the idiot was teasing him. 

“Is he coming, too? Invite him, Aominecchi! I haven’t seen him since the Winter Cup!” 

“He went to America for the break,” Aomine said in his best disinterested voice. “So you’re shit out of luck.” 

“No he didn’t,” Tetsu quipped. “He didn’t go to America.” 

Aomine glared at his former teammate for not getting the hint and tried his best to endure Kise’s “text him, text him, text him!” 

He couldn’t endure more than ten seconds. “If you want him so bad, why don’t _you_ text him, then!” 

Kise made an expression Aomine couldn’t really identify, and he tilted his head when he asked, “Are you guys fighting or something?” 

Aomine almost spluttered. “No! Why does everyone assume everything I feel has anything to do with that guy! Kise you better have kept your mouth shut!” 

“I haven’t told a soul!” Kise shouted back. “I’m great at keeping secrets, you know--” 

“You’re the complete opposite of ‘great at keeping secrets’ you flamboyant moron!” 

“What secrets?” Satsuki said in a loud voice that got Aomine and Kise’s attention, interrupting the elbowing that had begun at Aomine’s insult to Kise. 

Aomine’s face felt warm all of a sudden. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” 

He avoided everyone’s gazes, but not before he caught Tetsu watching him with curious eyes. 

“Kagami-kun can’t join us, today,” Tetsu spoke as if it wasn’t obvious that Aomine felt uncomfortable. “I asked him yesterday and he said he had other plans.”   

Aomine didn’t say anything as they kept walking in a familiar direction. He wondered how many times Tetsu had seen Kagami over winter break and then he felt his stomach drop when he remembered that he hadn’t considered a very important factor. What if Tetsu had a thing for Kagami?

* * *

Satsuki was sitting at her desk working on some homework that had been assigned over break while Aomine lounged lazily on her bed, flipping through a gravure magazine. 

“Hey Satsuki,” he said, not taking his eyes off the current page he was on. 

She made an annoyed noise to acknowledge that she heard him but didn’t turn around. 

“What’s up with you and Tetsu?” 

He turned his gaze to her when she turned abruptly, pencil gripped tightly in her hand. Her face was slightly pink and her mouth opened a bit before she frowned at him. 

“Can you not read that in here?! Do your homework!” 

“Eh? Don’t avoid the question. What’s the deal with Tetsu? You guys a thing or something?” 

She covered her face with her hands and turned around. “Go do your homework, Dai-chan!” 

“Don’t give me that shit,” Aomine said sitting up so that he could spin her chair around again. “Do you _looove_ him?” 

“Shut up!” her face was still covered by her hands. “It’s none of your business.” 

“I think I should know if my two best friends are getting it on--” 

He couldn’t dodge her notebook fast enough. “Ack! Okay, I’m sorry! It was just a question!” he pleaded as he tried to defend himself from her onslaught. 

She hit him on the head two more times before sitting down in defeat. 

“I like Tetsu-kun,” she mumbled into her arm. “And I think he likes me, too.” 

“You think? Haven’t you asked him--” she lifted her hand again and Aomine flinched back. “Wait! Okay, sorry!” He sat in silence for a few seconds until he couldn’t hold it any longer. “But...do you guys...you know...do...stuff?” 

He watched in amusement as Satsuki’s face turned a pink brighter than her hair, and she groaned into her hands. He was getting embarrassed too, seeing her like that. 

“I feel like I’m always the one to initiate it!” she said sitting up unexpectedly and pounding a fist into an open palm. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s even interested at all!” 

Aomine looked at her with a blank expression. So...did that mean...? 

“We haven’t...um...he and I haven’t gone _all_ the way but we’ve gotten pretty close and--” 

Aomine stood up. “Okay! That’s enough--” 

“No way! You asked, so sit back down! You have to help me!”   

“Help you?!” Aomine blurted incredulously. “How the hell am I supposed to _help_ you with this--this kind of _thing_!” 

“How can I tell if Tetsu-kun likes me!” 

“I don’t know! Why don’t you just ask him!” 

“How am I supposed to ask such a thing!” 

“You can initiate all kinds of dirty things but you can’t ask him a simple--” 

He couldn’t finish his sentence because Satsuki had charged at him and slapped her hand over his mouth. 

“Keep your mouth shut about it! Don’t phrase it like that! You’re an idiot!” 

Aomine was at a complete loss. “What the hell Satsuki?” his words came out muffled under her hand. 

She sat back down, threw her head back and groaned as if she just found out the apocalypse was going to happen tomorrow and she’d been given the responsibility to stop it. 

She didn’t say anything else and Aomine scratched the back of his head, trying to choose his next words wisely. He sure as hell didn’t want to get smacked around again. 

“Look,” he began rather lamely. “Tetsu isn’t the kind of guy that just does things if he’s not interested. So if he’s...reciprocating then I think it’s safe to say he likes you.” 

Satsuki looked at him in disbelief and he hastily continued, thinking he’d said something wrong. “But you should just ask him, you know? Just in case--” her eyes narrowed. “Ah, I mean, he’s a pretty straight forward guy so just be real and...I don’t know...honest with him?” 

Satsuki continued to look at him without saying anything and Aomine thought he was going to get a few more slaps. She took a deep breath and he held his. 

“Dai-chan, you’re not a complete idiot. Thank you.” 

He sighed in relief when she turned back to her homework. He stood up and gathered his things. 

“Where are you going?” she asked him without looking up. 

“Homework,” he lied. 

Satsuki didn’t say anything, but he felt the look of disbelief she shot at him. As he walked out he heard her humming to herself. It was the newest catchy love song they played on repeat on all radio stations. 

Girls were fucking weird. 

* * *

“Aomine-kun, why are you here so late?” 

Aomine stared at Tetsu. “What do you mean _late_? It’s only eight. And you can’t even say that it’s late, you’re obviously on your way out.” 

“Yes,” Tetsu said but didn’t elaborate. 

“So where are you going, then?” 

“To Kagami-kun’s place.” 

Aomine choked. As soon as he left Satsuki’s he’d walked over to Tetsu’s because Satsuki hadn’t given him a straight answer about her and Tetsu being a thing and now here was Tetsu, probably in love with Kagami and on the way to his house to do god knows what-- 

“Aomine-kun, are you feeling alright?” his voice and face were full of concern. “You look like you’re not breathing.” 

“You--even if it’s you, Tetsu, if you make Satsuki cry I won’t forgive you!” 

Tetsu gave him a questioning look, but his eyes were full of mischief. “What’s this about all of sudden?” 

“Do you like Satsuki?” 

“Yes,” Tetsu answered, not hesitating for a second. “I do like Momoi-san.” 

“Oh.” Aomine wasn’t really expecting that. “Okay.” 

“Okay,” Tetsu agreed and started walking. 

“No! Not okay!” Aomine said and Tetsu stopped to look at him. “Why are you going to Kagami’s, then?” 

“He’s in my class, we are going to do homework. Honestly, he could use all the help he can get. He’s a bit of an idiot, you know.” 

Somehow Aomine felt that Tetsu was trying to tell him something, but he wasn’t going to let it distract him from the reason he came out to find him. “So...you’re not, like, in love with him or anything?” 

Tetsu looked at him for a long time. Like, a really long time before he turned his head to the side and started laughing. 

“Hey!” Aomine mumbled, embarrassed. “What’s so funny? It’s a serious question!” 

“I guess Kagami-kun isn’t the only one who’s a bit of an idiot,” Tetsu said wiping the corners of his eyes. “What’s this really about, Aomine-kun?” 

Aomine sighed. “I don’t know. Satsuki was just talking about you guys...and I guess you’re giving her mixed signals and--nothing. Forget it. I was just reading too much into it. Or something.” 

All of Tetsu’s mirth disappeared and he looked at Aomine with a serious expression. “I’m sorry. I like to pull Momoi-san’s strings because I think she’s cute when she’s flustered. I do realize now that it can be a little insensitive. I’m sorry I made you worry, Aomine-kun. I’ll be more straightforward from now on.” 

Aomine wasn’t expecting that either. “Good. Thanks. And can you, you know, tell her you like her or something?” 

“I will tell her.” 

Aomine nodded in satisfaction. Good, his job was done, then. Now he could go home and-- 

“Would you like to come with to Kagami-kun’s?” 

“Hell no!” Aomine wanted to say. Instead he said, “Sure. I’ll take any chance to make fun of the idiot.” 

In all honesty, he just thought it would be beneficial to his plan if he knew where Kagami lived. 

Tetsu started walking down the street. “I’d say you and him are about the same. I hope you have your homework in that bag. Maybe you can learn something, too.” 

“Come on, man!”

* * *

In the end Aomine didn’t go inside with Tetsu. Once they’d made it to Kagami’s house and he’d buzzed them in, Aomine came up with the oldest excuse in the book to bail out, telling Tetsu that he “remembered there’d been something he had to do.” Tetsu had looked a little disappointed, but Aomine was more worried about whether or not Kagami had his phone back and if he’d spoken to a certain blond. 

* * *

The first day back to school from break was always a drag, but this one, Aomine thought, took the fucking cake. He had finished all of his homework the night before. He’d also forgotten it on his desk at home in the morning. 

Of course, none of his teachers believed him and he had half a mind to run back home for it, but in the end, for him, it really wasn’t worth the effort. He knew himself. If he left he wouldn’t come back. 

So at the end of the day as he walked out of school with a finger in his ear, he was contemplating the pros and cons of arriving late to practice when at the entrance gate he saw someone who was very out of place. 

“Midorima, what the hell are you doing here?” 

In his pocket his phone was vibrating, probably Satsuki nagging him to go to practice. (Totally unnecessary; there was no way he’d fall behind in stamina just so Kagami could beat him again.) 

“I have to tell you something,” Midorima said in his matter-of-fact voice. “Do you have some time?” 

He pulled out his phone to check the time and saw that he had received a text from Satsuki, but it was telling him that practice was canceled since Coach was coming up with a whole new training menu. Apparently he’d been impressed by Seirin’s tiny coach and was trying to up the ante. He wondered what new cards the old man had up his sleeve. 

“Yeah, I have time. What’s so important that you had to come all the way here? Did someone die?” 

Midorima glared at him. “You’re an insensitive simpleton. What if someone _did_ die?” 

“Great, no one did,” he didn’t sound relieved at all. “So what’s up?” 

Midorima started walking away without checking to see if Aomine was following him. Bemused--and annoyed as all hell--Aomine rolled his eyes before following. Midorima stopped abruptly and stood suspiciously still. He looked over his shoulder and glared at Aomine, who lifted his hands and shoulders in a “what the fuck, you weird asshole?” motion. 

“I told Akashi,” Midorima finally spat out what he’d come to say. 

Aomine wasn’t really getting it. “You told Akashi?” 

“About you.” 

“About me.” 

“And Kagami.” 

Oh. 

“Oh.” 

Then, “What do you _mean_ you _told Akashi_?!” 

“What?” he pushed up his glasses. “It’s not a big deal.” 

“Not a big deal? _Not a big deal?!_ Do you want to fight me, asshole!” 

Midorima looked down his nose at Aomine and sniffed. “You’re sounding more like that buffoon by the minute.” 

Aomine was totally offended and too pissed off to form his words. “No--you--wait--stop! We’re not talking about him right now! We’re talking about you and the fact that you _told Akashi_!” 

He put his hands in his hair and pulled. He growled and said ferociously, “This! This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you!” 

This was it. Over. Everything was over. His life was ruined. He was done for. Aomine Daiki: extinct as of today, right now. 

“Fuck! Now everyone is going to know!” 

And Kagami. Kagami would...what would Kagami do? 

“Shit!” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Midorima’s voice was quickly getting on Aomine’s nerves. “I only told Akashi.” 

“He’s going to tell Tetsu and that makes everyone!” Aomine really didn’t want to make this a big deal, especially in front of Midorima. 

“Not if Kuroko doesn’t tell Murasakibara.” 

“You guys are all friggin’ idiots, I swear,” he stated, even rolling up his sleeves so that he could spell it out for Midorima. “He’ll tell _Kagami_ and then when Kagami tells that Himuro guy--because why the hell wouldn’t he?--then Murasakibara will know and who else is left? No one! Why don’t you just call up Haizaki and tell him, too!” 

“Okay now you’re just being dramatic.” 

“Fuck off, Midorima!” he nearly yelled, his arm extended straight and his index finger pointing straight between Midorima’s eyes. 

Midorima stayed silent while Aomine tried his best to simmer down. 

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” Aomine grumbled. “Like, am I going to get poisoned next or something?” 

“Your horoscope--” 

“Don’t give me that crap!” 

“I was just going to say you’re in last--” 

“Stop!” 

“And your lucky item--” 

“Midorima, I swear to _god_ , I swear to all the fucking gods if you don’t shut up--” 

“Alright. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to tell Akashi. It kind of just slipped out. I told him that secrecy is very important to you, and Akashi definitely knows how to be discreet. Call him yourself if you don’t believe me. I just thought that you should hear it from me that your, ah, secret isn’t so secret anymore.” 

“Don’t say that with such an ominous expression,” Aomine said in defeat. “I’m going home.” 

He left without bothering to say goodbye and pulled out his phone to call Akashi in order to swear him into secrecy.

* * *

Akashi was absolutely terrifying to talk to on the phone. That was to be expected of course, since he was terrifying in person, but it was eerie not knowing what his face looked like. Aomine felt that every other word he said completely pissed off his former captain and his icy tone kept making Aomine shiver. 

Akashi had promised not to tell Tetsu and Murasakibara that he knew about Aomine and Kagami, much to Aomine’s relief.

In the pit of his gut Aomine felt all of his nerves spinning and churning. It was time to tell Kagami. At the rate this was going the whole world would find out before the beast. 

He picked up his phone and called Kagami, but hung up before it could ring. 

This was stupid! Why was he so nervous? It was just an idiot on the other end of the phone! But really, what was he supposed to say? “Hey, you fucking idiot. We’re dating now so just go with it.” Or something? 

He tried again and got pissed off when he got the dial tone and the voice recording, _The number you have reached is no longer in service--_ blah blah! Fuckin’ Kagami. 

He called Tetsu next and he answered after a few rings. 

“Tetsu, are you with Kagami by any chance?” 

“Yes.” 

Aomine waited for a few seconds and then prompted, “Well, can I please speak to him?” 

He didn’t mean to sound patronizing or condescending but he was seriously pissed off, so when he heard Kagami’s gruff voice he flew off the handle. 

“Why haven’t you replaced your phone yet, you idiot!” 

“What the hell? Have you been trying to get in contact with me or something?” 

“No! Who the hell would try to contact you!” 

“Well then what the hell do you want!” Kagami yelled back. “You into the habit of just calling up people and bitching at them for no reason? Asshole!” 

“You’re the fucking asshole--” 

“Aomine, you fucking prick, if you don’t get to the point of your call I’ll seriously come to wherever the hell you are and kick your stupid ass!” 

“You’re the stupid ass!” Aomine said and in a fit of fury he hung up. 

Aarrgghh he wasn’t supposed to have taken it out on Kagami! Great. Perfect. Peachy. Amazing. 

He took a few calming breaths and when he felt somewhat back to normal he laid everything out in his head. Kise knew, Midorima and Takao knew, and Akashi knew. 

Huh. Maybe he was being dramatic. The unease he felt in the pit of his stomach hadn’t disappeared, though. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep Kagami out of the loop, but decided that he’d rather walk buck ass naked in front of Akashi before he brought it up to Kagami a second sooner than he had to.

 

 


	3. enter the tiger

Practice was over and Aomine was in the middle of washing his face when he heard his phone buzz from where it sat near his mess on one of the benches in the locker room. He reached for a towel and began drying himself off when the phone buzzed again and again. 

“Aomine, pick that up already, it’s so annoying!” Wakamatsu shouted from his spot next to Aomine’s bag. 

“Not more annoying than you,” Aomine retorted quietly. 

“What did you say?!” Wakamatsu stood up to glower but Aomine only looked at him with a bored expression. 

“Nothing,” Aomine said louder, but still in a bored voice. “I said thanks for telling me my phone was buzzing.” 

“Are you being sarcastic? Because if you’re being sarcastic--” 

“Yes, yes, sure thing,” Aomine mumbled not even listening to Wakamatsu’s bitching. 

“You shitty brat--” 

“Ah, Senpai? Ah, sorry! I meant, Captain?” Ryo interjected walking up to Wakamatsu. “I had a question about the training for tomorrow.” 

The second Wakamatsu was distracted Aomine picked up all of his things and hightailed it out of the locker room. He’d have to thank Ryo later, knowing he probably distracted Wakamatsu in order to spare Aomine the pain of getting yelled at. 

Once he was outside he checked his phone and saw that he had three messages, one from Tetsu and two from Kagami. 

Oh my god they knew. Well, that was his first thought and it was enough to set his heart beating rapidly. 

He opened Tetsu’s text first and sighed in relief when he read that it was an invitation to go see a movie “with everyone” over the weekend. He wanted to decline, never in the mood to be “with everyone” if “everyone” included Kise and Midorima. 

He opened Kagami’s message thread next and swore he could physically feel his temper rising. The first message was a picture of Kagami’s middle finger, with the subject reading _Asshole_. The second text was just the word _ASSHOLE_ again, just like that, in all caps. 

Kagami had finally gotten his phone back and this was his way of letting Aomine know. He replied with a string of curse words, letting Kagami know he got the message loud and clear.

* * *

Aomine invited Ryo to come along to the movies and they arrived together before everyone else. 

“Aomine-san are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?”

“Huh--?” Aomine noticed that Ryo had been anxious since he met up with him.

“Sorry! I meant, Aomine-kun!”

He’d probably never get used to Ryo’s constant apologizing. “Ryo, relax, already. Yes, it’s fine. I invited you, after all. Don’t feel like you’re imposing because I want you to be here.”

That was true. Aomine realized that, however slight it was, he could be a little bit of a bully to Ryo. He didn’t know of many ways to offer his thanks to him for sharing his notes, letting him cheat off him on tests and homework, covering for him when he ditched, well, anything, and the best of them all: lunches. So he offered his friendship.

Or whatever.

“Aomine-kun, could it be that you’re actually nice?”

“Let’s not get carried away, Ryo,” he was mostly teasing.

“You’re right! I’m sorry--” 

“And quit apologizing--” 

Ryo was still in the middle of apologizing for apologizing when Kise, Midorima, and Takao showed up. 

“Are you guys a threesome now or something?” Aomine questioned by way of greeting, noting that this wasn’t the first time he’d seen the three of them together. 

Midorima looked disgusted and offended while Kise just shook his hair out of his eyes like the model he was. 

“I was hoping Kurokocchi would be here already,” he was pretending that he didn’t even see Aomine. “Sakurai-kun, it’s nice to see you.” 

“Kise, you’re so annoying!” Aomine declared, not liking being ignored. 

“Is Kagamicchi coming?” he looked at Aomine, expecting an answer. 

“Aomine, you ignoramus--” 

“Don’t start with me, Midorima! I still haven’t forgiven you!” Aomine wasn’t about take any kind of shit today. “And Kise, don’t worry about it!” 

He had no idea if Kagami was going to come, Tetsu hadn’t specified. 

“Forgive Midorimacchi for what?” Kise asked curiously, now trying to get Aomine to give him all the details. They had just shown up and Aomine was already sick of them. 

“What did I just say?!” Aomine had a bad feeling already. 

“Now, now,” Takao said in his usual about-to-laugh voice. “Look, Sakurai’s absolutely petrified.” 

“Ah?” Ryo looked like he’d rather not be in the spotlight. “No! I’m fine! This is just my face!” 

Aomine looked at him and saw that Ryo did look uncomfortable. 

“Don’t worry about them, Ryo,” Aomine said trying to comfort his teammate. “These guys are all just a bunch of idiots. If you don’t look at them and try really hard not to listen it’s almost like they’re not there--” 

“Aomine is just mad that I told Akashi that he’s sleeping with Kagami--” 

Midorima abruptly stopped speaking as soon as he realized what he’d said and turned to Aomine with wide eyes. Aomine was frozen, but not entirely shocked. Besides, it was only a matter of time, now even less time for his team to find out, and shortly after that the whole rest of the fucking planet.

He was still pissed off though. How did Midorima manage to just blurt something out like that? It wasn’t even his turn to talk! Aomine felt provoked and he was infuriated. 

“W-what?” Ryo looked at Aomine, then at Midorima, and quickly back at Aomine. “Aomine-kun and Kagami-san--”

Takao made some kind of noise and Aomine glared at him, daring him to laugh. Takao shut up but elbowed Midorima. “Shin-chan,” he did snicker this time, “I think you just fucked up.”

Aomine stayed silent and didn’t try to reign in his anger, not even when he saw Ryo take a few steps back.

“Aomine,” Midorima began, "I...forgot Sakurai was here," and that was all it took for Aomine to snap.

“Midorima, you _fucking_ , annoying, _unbelievable_ , untrustworthy, gossiping fucker!” Aomine rolled up his sleeves. “I don’t even know where to begin with you--”

Kise stepped in. “Aominecchi, don’t cause a scene. It was an accident--”

“Stay the hell out of this, Kise. This is half your fault, too!”

“How is it my fault? Besides, isn’t it better when you don’t have to keep it a secret--”

Aomine wanted so badly to give Kise and Midorima very detailed, colorful explanations of his feelings for them, and had the words half way out of his mouth when he felt a tap on his elbow.

“Aomine-kun,” Ryo said and when he reeled on him one look at Ryo had Aomine backing down. “I’ll keep it a secret. I won’t say anything.”

Aomine was silent for a few seconds.

“And, I’m sorry, but, I can see Kagami-san coming,” Ryo finished and Aomine was one hundred percent glad he brought him along for the trip.

“I’ll buy your movie ticket,” Midorima offered, probably his way of apologizing.

Aomine was still unbelievably pissed off but he really couldn’t hold it against Midorima, no matter how much he wanted to. “It’s fine. You don’t have to.”

“Does that mean you forgive--”

“Hell. No.”

“Come on, Aomine, it really was an accident. Please don’t neglect my Shin-chan for a simple mistake,” Takao insisted but Aomine couldn’t take him seriously.

“I expected this kind of thing from Kise, but you, Midorima? I’m disappointed,” Aomine felt smug at how much that comment bothered Midorima. For now he’d say they were even.

“Kagamicchi!” Kise called when Kagami was in earshot. Kagami was easy to spot, as he was the tallest of the people walking in their directions. He heard Kise and lifted his hand and gave a small wave, but his face remained the same stoic expression he always wore. What was that called? Resting bitch face, right. Kagami suffered from it, that was for sure.

“Not a word to him,” Aomine warned in a low voice. “Or I promise I’ll put in my very best efforts to make your lives a living hell.”

They all nodded. Takao even pretended to zip up his lips and throw away the key.

“Yo,” Kagami said once he’d walked up to them. “Kuroko’s not here yet?” Kagami looked thoughtful and then scanned the group again, as if he might have missed Tetsu.

“He’s not here yet,” Aomine answered. “My guess is he’s coming with Satsuki.”

Kagami nodded. “Yo, Sakurai,” he greeted. “How did you manage to get roped into coming along with such a miserable group?”

“I resent that!” Takao interjected.

“I’m sorry!” Ryo looked panicked. “Should I not be here?”

Aomine glared at Kagami, as if it were his fault for making Ryo feel unwelcomed. “We went over this, Ryo, you are supposed to be here so just enjoy it.”

Kagami started to laugh. “Is that really your way of trying to comfort someone?” He frowned and made his voice deeper. “ _My name is Ahomine and I’m an asshole. Sakurai! Relax!_ ”

Takao and Kise laughed while Aomine tried not to blush. “Shut up, idiot! I don’t sound like that!”

“I’d say that’s pretty much right on the money,” Satsuki said from behind Aomine. He turned around and saw that she had shown up with Tetsu, just like he had predicted.  

“Hello,” Tetsu greeted. “Are we expecting anyone else?”

No one else had invited anyone, so as a group of eight they made their way to the ticket booth to buy their movie tickets for the latest action/drama film.

Now, how in the hell was Aomine going to sit next to Kagami without Kagami thinking he was being weird?

* * *

It wasn’t that hard to get a seat next to Kagami. The oblivious idiot didn’t even notice that something was up with the way Ryo, Kise, Takao, and Midorima maneuvered themselves so that Aomine ended up sitting on Kagami’s left side. 

He had to commend their subtlety (except Midorima, because fuck that guy!) because not even Tetsu and Satsuki realized that there was anything going on.

Kagami was sitting on the aisle, so everyone passed down their money and sent him back to the concession to buy their drinks and snacks. Aomine went with him.

There was his chance. The perfect chance to finally tell Kagami what he’d done.

“You get half and I get the other half,” Kagami suggested and went to stand in a line different than Aomine.

Aomine went to stand right next to him. “The money’s all put together, let’s just buy it all at once.”

“Whatever,” Kagami muttered.

Aomine took a deep breath.

He couldn’t do it. Fuck it all, he couldn’t tell Kagami something so embarrassing.

* * *

The movie sucked.

It had been longer than they’d expected and the whole time Aomine could feel and hear them turning their heads or shifting their bodies so that they could see what he and Kagami were doing. Did they expect them to start making out and sit there holding hands for three hours? Bunch of idiots. He watched most of the movie with his middle finger held up.

Since it had ended they had been making their way from the theater sharing their opinions about the movie.

“It had its moments!” The only one who liked it was Kise.

“No,” Midorima argued in his usual, very matter of fact voice. “The science was all wrong, there’s no way a person with such extensive injuries could sustain even _more_ traumatic injuries and still be able to move; even the idea of standing after something like that is preposterous.”

Aomine agreed, but since Midorima was the one who said it he stayed silent.

“The robot was cool,” Takao said and everyone agreed.

“Probably the only good part,” Kagami added.

“That and I thought the song from the beginning was fun to listen to,” Ryo said and everyone agreed again.

“No way, the explosions were totally awesome, right, Kurokocchi?”

When there was no answer everyone looked around. “Eh?” Kise said a little dumbfounded. “Where did Kurokocchi and Momoicchi go?”

“They probably ditched us,” Kagami sounded like he didn’t care either way.

“No way!” Kise whined. “Why would you say that?”

Kagami showed Kise his phone and Kise read aloud, “ _We ditched you_? Kurokocchi is so mean! Wasn’t this his idea?”

“Well,” Aomine made a show of stretching obnoxiously. “I guess I’ll call it a night, then--”

“Not so fast, Aominecchi.”

Aomine paused. “What?”

“Now that this is a safe zone, I think it’s time for an intervention.”

Oh shit. Oh no.

“Intervention?” Kagami asked. “What are we intervening?”

“You,” Kise answered.

“Me?” Kagami asked in surprise. “Why?”

“It’s okay, Kagamicchi--”

“Kise, don’t do this,” Aomine said. His heart was racing. Everything felt cold. No, no. _He_ was supposed to tell Kagami. Kagami wasn’t supposed to find out like this.

Oh my god they were all going to know he was a liar. He’d never be able to face Kise and Midorima--let alone Kagami--ever again. Worse, Ryo would know and he’d laugh at him--oh my god.

“Sit right there, you two!” Kise was totally having a blast. Aomine wanted to shove his foot so far up Kise’s ass-- “Aominecchi, sit!”

They had been walking toward the train station until Kise had told them to sit on a public bench. Kagami obediently sat down and Aomine grudgingly followed.

“What’s this about?” Kagami looked confused and a little nervous. He looked at Aomine, then to Kise, to Midorima, and back at Aomine with a frown. “Why are you guys being so weird? Weirder than usual, I mean.”

“Aominecchi told us everything, Kagamicchi,” Kise didn’t waste a second.

Silence followed his words.

“Eh?” Kagami said after a few seconds. “What did you say?”

“He said we already know,” Midorima pushed up his glasses.

Takao snickered. “You don’t have to look so scared, Kagami. It’s not a big deal.”

Kagami frowned in confusion and looked at Aomine for help, but Aomine just looked back at him with a blank expression.

“No, wait, seriously,” Kagami said looking between Kise and Midorima, the moderators. “Did you say ‘Aomine told you everything’?”

“Yes,” Kise nodded. “We all know--well, not all of us. Just all of us here and Akashicchi--”

“No, I’m seriously lost here,” Kagami interrupted Kise. “What the hell are you guys going on about? Aomine?” He looked at Aomine and Aomine winced.

“Sorry,” was all he could manage as he watched the events unfold.

“Sheesh, this is harder than it looked,” Kise rubbed his forehead. “Kagamicchi, we know about you and Aominecchi. We just want to say that we accept you and think it’s perfectly okay.”

Out of the corner of his eye Aomine saw Kagami’s head turn to look at Aomine.

“Is that right…?” Kagami still sounded uncertain. He could feel Kagami watching him. He could feel them all watching him. Aomine waited for the truth to come out.

“Yes. We also understand that you want to keep it a secret,” Kise continued as if he were talking about the weather or sports or his latest vacation. “But it’s unhealthy, so please confide in us!”

“In you?” Kagami looked incredulous and suspicious. “Confide in you? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“We’re getting nowhere with this,” Midorima said sounding annoyed. “Kagami, we know you and Aomine are in some kind of relationship so we’re telling you enough with the secrets already. Aomine already told us everything and I accidentally told Akashi and Sakurai.”

Aomine looked at Kagami, still with a blank expression. Kagami had his hands together, like he was praying, held up to his face with his index fingers pressed against his lips.

“Okay, let me try to understand this,” Kagami finally said and Aomine wanted to scream. Enough with this already! “Aomine,” he pointed to Aomine. “Told all of you,” he pointed to Kise, Midorima, Takao, and Ryo. “That he and I--that he and I are...a thing?”

“ _Ding, ding, ding!_ ” Takao said at the same time that Kise exclaimed, “Yes! Absolutely right, Kagamicchi!”

Aomine waited.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Four seconds.

Five seconds...And--

Kagami stood up and pointed at Aomine.

“You!”

Ah, there it was.

“Aomine--what?!--I don’t--What?!”

He hoped Satsuki remembered to bury him with his favorite Mai-chan photoset and that Tetsu wouldn’t write something stupid on his grave, like “BRB.”

“Is this a fucking joke?!”

He lived a good life, really. He’d be remembered as the basketball prodigy--and really, what’s so bad about that?

“Are you going to say anything, asshole?!”

His only regret would be not being able to play ball a little longer. But he supposed if heaven were real--he’d been _decently_ good, at least--then in his own version he’d play ball for the rest of eternity while big breasted women cheered him on--

“Are you even listening to me, bastard!” Kagami grabbed Aomine by the collar and lifted him onto his feet. “I asked you if you thought this was a fucking joke!”

Aomine sighed and grabbed Kagami’s hand, loosening his fingers so he could step back.

“Can you give us a minute?” Aomine calmly said to the rest of the bastards that he would never forgive. He’d haunt them forever.

“W-wait,” Kise said suddenly looking nervous. “Kagamicchi, we didn’t tell you so that you could--”

Kagami turned his anger towards Kise. “I thought I heard him ask you guys to give us a minute!” When they didn’t move Kagami added, “Or should I make you guys leave myself!”

The whole time Aomine was just standing in defeat. He was sure this added to the tension that the others felt and he hoped it scared them.

Kise raised his arms in surrender. “Aominecchi was right, you’re really scary when you’re angry.”

“Yeah?” Kagami’s voice was still at a high volume. “You sure you want to see how right he was about that? You haven’t seen angry yet, I’m just getting started.”

For once Takao was not laughing. “I think we really messed up with this one, guys. Obviously they have other issues they need to work out--”

Kagami groaned and Takao stopped talking. “Can you guys leave already?”

The others backed away but Midorima stood his ground. Aomine wanted to laugh. “He’s not going to kill me, Midorima.”

“Don’t sound so sure,” Kagami muttered more to Aomine than to the rest of them.

“Seriously,” Aomine said. “Go before I start getting pissed, too.” He grinned without humor. “Don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire,” he teased.

“That’s not making me feel any better,” Kise said. “Alright. We’ll go. Kagamicchi and Aominecchi, if you guys hurt each other I won’t forgive either of you!”

He turned and walked away. Midorima and Takao followed but Ryo stayed behind.

“Ryo,” Aomine tried to sound as normal and relaxed as possible. “I’ll let you know when I get home.”

He still looked hesitant, but nodded nonetheless and walked away looking back every now and then.

Aomine sat back down on the bench and slouched while Kagami paced in front of him. Kagami wasn’t looking at Aomine and the more Aomine watched him the more he realized what everyone meant when they talked about this guy.

The “intensity of a wild tiger” people would say, and Aomine could see up close and personal how accurate that was. Kagami’s aura was like a caged tiger plotting his escape and a kill list. Aomine was probably number one on the list, now even more so, and though he knew he should be wary the only thing he felt coursing through his veins was adrenaline.

He was _excited_. How would Kagami take it out on him? What would he say? Aomine was always up for a challenge, so the prospect of this...face off or whatever was about to happen with Kagami...Aomine wanted it. He was ready for it.

“Where do you want to do this?” Kagami finally asked, stopping all of his movements and staring at Aomine head on.

Okay, never mind. Nope. Aomine was not ready for this.

“What?” he asked uncertainly.

Kagami stood tall, cool, collected and that was probably scarier than the raging, blubbering, idiocy he was going on about before.

“Settle this, where do you want to?”

“Settle what?” Aomine asked wildly. “What do you mean by ‘settle’ this? Are you going to kill me?”

Kagami nodded seriously. “Yeah, but I wanna know why you said all that first.”

“Here is fine,” Aomine said quickly. Kagami couldn’t be too harsh if there were witnesses. If Kagami were going to kill him then at least out in public it would be simple, clean, and most importantly, fast.

Kagami released a breath and sat down on the bench, not too close to Aomine. “Okay. So start.”

“Where?”

“Gee, I don’t know, how about the fucking beginning?”

Aomine bristled at that. “This isn’t easy, you know!”

“Oh, and saying all that bullshit was? Are you making fun of me?!”

“No!--Look, I’m sorry okay! I didn’t want this to turn out like this, and I especially didn’t want you to find out. Not like that, anyway. Actually, not at all, but in the end I guess it couldn’t be helped. But still, if you had to find out I didn’t mean for it to be like that--”

Kagami cut off Aomine’s rambling with a soft growl. “You’re making things more confusing.”

“It all started when I was forced to take the train with Kise, Mido-fuckface, and Takao.”

Kagami looked like he wanted to laugh when Aomine mentioned Midorima, but probably remembered he was still pissed off so he just made a ridiculous face.

Aomine continued, “They were being fucking asshole--”

“What else is new?” Kagami interrupted and Aomine nodded in agreement.

“Anyway--” Aomine stopped talking.

Wait just one fucking minute. There was no way he was going to tell _Kagami_ that he was a virgin! So he had to change the story!

Oh my god, was he going to have to start keeping a journal just so he could remember all of his lies?

“They were making fun of me,” Aomine said sounding super fucking lame. God he was so embarrassed. “And they pissed me off so one thing led to another and I didn’t want to lose to them so I said that you and I well...you know.”

“No,” Kagami said not looking sorry for Aomine at all. “I don’t know, actually.”

Aomine pressed his hands to his face and groaned. “Don’t make me say it.”

“You told them we’re in...what kind of relationship?”

Aomine’s face felt hot under his palms so he pressed them to his face a little harder. “Romantic.”

Fuuuuuck.

“Like...just dating...or…?” Kagami’s voice sounded weird but there was no way Aomine was going to show him his face so he couldn’t see what he looked like. He wondered what kind of expression he was making.

Aomine shook his head. No, they weren’t _just_ dating. He recalled telling Kise that he and Kagami had...done all kinds of things.

“S-sex?” Kagami’s voice came out almost in a whisper.

Aomine leaned his head back, but didn’t take his hands off his face. He answered in a deadpan, “Yes. Lots of it. All the time.”

It was silent and even though Kagami wasn’t too close, Aomine could still faintly feel the heat radiating off his body.

After what felt like ten minutes--but was actually only like, thirty seconds--Kagami exhaled loudly. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

Aomine finally looked up to see Kagami looking at him with a look of exasperation adorning his face.

“I only said it was you because I thought they’d leave it alone because you’re scary!”

“I still don’t understand why you had to make up this kind of lie in the first place!” Oh no, Kagami was yelling again. “And I’m not scary!”

“Have you even seen your face?” Aomine pointed. “You’re totally scary!”

Kagami slapped his hand down. “Okay, so help me understand this before, you know, I kick your ass. You told those idiots that you and I are fucking or whatever, because...because you didn’t want to lose to them?”

“Yes,” Aomine nodded. Good Kagami understood.

“You didn’t want to lose to them in what?”

Shit. Not virginity. Don’t say virginity. Not-- “Gay virginity.”

Kagami coughed. “What?!”

“Look, it sounds stupid, but if you would have been there you would have understood--”

“If I’d been there this wouldn’t have happened at all! Why did you have to say me? Why me? Specifically!”

“I told you, because you’re scary...and well, I kind of shut down the possibility that it was Tetsu way too fast and plus it wouldn’t have worked because he’s dating Satsuki so--”

“And what about Sakurai?”

“Have you seen him?!” Aomine gestured to where Ryo had been standing last. “I can’t do that to him!”

“So you didn’t want them to know you’ve never hooked up with another dude before...so you just flat out lied to them and told them you’ve been hooking up with me--which I will never, ever understand why it had to be _me specifically_ \--and now all of your grade school buddies think we’re in a romantic relationship?”

Aomine slumped his shoulders. Ugh, that sounded so dumb. “Yeah. Sounds about right.”

“I didn’t know you were gay,” Kagami said unexpectedly.

Aomine turned to look at him. “I’m not.”

“Bi, then?” Kagami looked like he was trying to solve a difficult math problem.

“Not that either,” Aomine said, because really, that didn’t really feel right. Calling himself bisexual...he didn’t _feel_ bisexual.

But he didn’t really feel straight either…

Kagami rubbed his thumb on his forehead and muttered, “Generation of fucking dumbass fools, I swear.”

They lapsed into another silence that Aomine broke with, “Can you not tell them that I lied? It’s too embarrassing. Especially after that scene you caused--”

“I’d say _you_ caused it, asshole!” he sat up to glare but then leaned back against the bench once more. “So, who exactly knows? Does Kuroko know? Oh god _does Kuroko know?_ ”

“Calm down--”

“I don’t want to hear those words from you--”

“Tetsu doesn’t know. Neither does Satsuki. Please don’t tell them.”

“Like hell I would! This is so embarrassing! Why me?!”

Aomine realized something. It was a way out, but also a risk for Aomine. He’d be free of this mess, but he would probably look like a fool in front of everyone else. “Are you going to tell them we broke up?”

Kagami opened his mouth but then shut it again as a look of realization dawned on his face. “No,” he said and then grinned sinisterly. “I’m going to exploit you.”

That was not a possibility that Aomine was expecting.

“What? No way--”

“Don’t give me that shit,” Kagami moved his hand as if trying to swat away Aomine’s words. “You owe me a lot of fucking favors for not outing you to them.”

Aomine narrowed his eyes, but he had no say in stopping Kagami. He supposed this was fair.

Kagami laughed. “Ha! I can’t wait to tell them how much you drool in your sleep! Or wait, what if you say embarrassing things during sex? Ha!” He imitated Kise’s voice, “ _Aominecchi, I didn’t know you liked to wear thongs_ \--”

“Shut up!” Aomine stood up, his face burning. “Go fuck yourself!”

Kagami was still giggling. “No, let’s go do that together, since we do that stuff all the time--”

“I’m leaving!” Aomine said and stomped away from Kagami, ignoring his stupid catcalls and jibes that followed until he was well out of earshot.

Oh my god, fuck this guy.

 

 

 


	4. oh my god

“Taiga,” Aomine practiced in the confines of his bed sheets. He shivered at the foreign feel of that name on his tongue. 

Now that Kagami was a part of the lie--actually, now that he was a key player in his lie to the world--Aomine figured some things would have to change. He thought it would be weird or suspicious if he went around calling Tetsu and Ryo by their given names and not his boyfriend--

No. That word was just way too weird, especially in reference to Kagami.

“ _Taiga_ ,” he tried again and thought he was going to barf.

Downstairs the doorbell rang. Who came to people’s homes at nine in the morning on a Sunday? He waited for one or both of his parents to answer the door, but accepted that it was his responsibility when the bell rang three more times.

Quickly putting on a shirt--because the last time he neglected to had been very awkward--he made his way down the stairs to the front door, grumbling like an old man.

As soon as he opened the door he was pushed aside as massive bodies rushed in, Wakamatsu leading the queue.

What the hell was Touou doing on his doorstep?! Even Imayoshi and Susa were there! They’d retired from the team, what the hell was going on?

“What--?” Aomine tried to ask but was rushed back up the stairs to his bedroom.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Ryo was calling from the back of the group.

“What the hell!” Aomine shouted as he was pushed onto his bed and the door had been slammed shut.

The team crowded in the bedroom and Wakamatsu called, “Surprise inspection!” before lifting up Aomine’s shirt, turning him over, and prodding him in odd places. He went for his shorts next but Aomine broke free and scooted up on his bed.

“Stop!” he shrieked. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Maybe this was another dream.

“Aomine, long time no see,” Imayoshi’s tone made it seem like something evil was about to happen.

“Oh, it’s a nightmare,” Aomine realized calmly and crawled under the sheets and closed his eyes. What other explanation was there for such bizarre events?

“Hey!” Wakamatsu’s voice was loud, like always. “We’re not done with the inspection! What did that brute do to you?!”

Aomine’s eyes flew open and he sat up, throwing the blankets aside. “What?!”

His eyes sought Ryo and he noticed him trying to hide behind Susa, apologizing over and over. “I’m sorry, Aomine-kun! You never texted me last night and you didn’t answer your phone at all so I thought something terrible happened and...”

Aomine stopped listening and looked around in his mess of blankets and pillows for his phone. He tried turning on the screen but it didn’t go. His phone’s battery had discharged and he hadn’t even noticed.

“Phone died,” Aomine muttered. He looked up at his current and ex-teammates. “Now, what the hell are you all doing here? Isn’t Sunday our day off?”

“...and I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t think you’d want Momoi-san to know, so I called Captain who called Senpai and--”

“Ryo,” Aomine was finally beginning to understand what had happened. “Did you tell them about me and Kagami?”

He saw Ryo turn pale and duck behind Susa, continuing to mutter apologies like they were prayers.

“We know,” Imayoshi spared Ryo the torture of answering the question. “And honestly, Aomine, we’re proud of you--”

He threw a pillow at Imayoshi and it hit him square in the face.

“Hey, you little shit!” Wakamatsu grabbed Aomine’s foot and pulled Aomine down the bed. “Respect your elders! He’s still your senpai--” 

“Fuck off!” Aomine tried kicking Wakamatsu. “You’re trespassing!”

“I’m sorry, Aomine-kun! I’m so sorry!” Ryo’s voice was small but still carried over the commotion.

“Hey, let’s all calm down--” Aomine threw another pillow at Imayoshi.

Imayoshi looked annoyed and Aomine thought he was going to die. He was saved when the door opened, but he couldn’t see who it was because of all the tall bodies.

Satsuki, then.

“Are we having a meeting in here?” she asked as she maneuvered past the team with practiced ease. She sat on the bed, giving Aomine and Wakamatsu a wide berth.

“How did you know they were all here?” Aomine asked. Wakamatsu was still holding his feet.

“I saw them all through the window. What’s going on?”

“We came to give Aomine the talk,” Imayoshi said.

“What?” Aomine and Satsuki asked at the same time.

Imayoshi grinned. “The sex talk.”

“Oh,” Satsuki said and stood up. “Oh, okay. I’m leaving.” She walked to the door and then stopped. “Wait! Why do you need the sex talk? Why didn’t you get it sooner?”

Aomine spluttered. “I did! They’re being idiots! I know how to have sex!”

He could use with a sex talk, to be honest. But not from these guys. Never from these guys. Plus, anything he wanted to know he could find on the Internet.

“This is the twenty first century!” Aomine shouted, completely out of context.

Wakamatsu pressed his hand over Aomine’s mouth. He was going to smother him, so Aomine slobbered all over his hand.

“Gross!” Wakamatsu removed his hand to wipe on the nearest pillow.

Satsuki watched on in amusement, and before Aomine could beg her to help him, she excused herself with an, “I’m glad you’re getting along with everyone, Dai-chan,” and Aomine heard the front door shut when she walked out.

The team looked at Imayoshi expectantly and for a few seconds nothing happened.

“Now,” Imayoshi began and Aomine opened his mouth but Wakamatsu covered it again. “Aomine, did Kagami hurt you yesterday? Sakurai-kun said he was very angry and…‘totally scary’.”

“We’re asking because it affects the team, you little jerk!” Wakamatsu scolded. “If he hurt you we can get him in serious trouble--”

Aomine struggled to free himself from Wakamatsu, succeeding in kicking him under the chin as he scooted away again.

“Enough already!” Aomine was offended. “I think I’m old enough to take care of myself! Plus, I can totally handle that guy on my own!”

The others looked at each other before looking back at Aomine.

“I totally can!”

Okay, maybe he couldn’t. In basketball, sure, no problem but he knew that if it ever came to physical blows he and Kagami could be evenly matched or just slightly mismatched. He could beat him in basketball, but Kagami could probably beat him to a pulp.

“We still think it’s important that you understand the implications of having sexual relations with a male partner as opposed to a female--” Imayoshi explained in a professor voice.

“Oh. My. God,” Aomine held his head. “This isn’t happening.”

“It’s perfectly natural,” Imayoshi went on. “Just make sure you prepare thoroughly, because if the rumors are true then bedding Kagami isn’t as easy as--”

“I’m going to throw up,” Aomine exaggerated. He felt like he’d just eaten some of Satsuki’s cooking. His brain tortured him by replaying the words his former captain said and, “Wait, what rumors?!”

No one answered him and he noticed that they all looked slightly uncomfortable.

“Tell me!” he didn’t care if he sounded like a child.

“I’ll say it if you confirm the rumors,” Imayoshi offered slyly.

Aomine didn’t agree. “Tell me.”

“Well…” Imayoshi dragged it out for suspense. “Rumor has it Kagami Taiga has got a massive coc--”

“Get the hell out of my house,” Aomine demanded darkly, stopping Imayoshi before he could make his ears bleed with such a disgusting mental image.

Aomine herded them all out of his bedroom, down the stairs, and out the front door before they could say another embarrassing thing and shouted, “I’m fine!” at their backs as they left.

What had he _done?_

* * *

_Touou knows_ , Aomine sent a text to Kagami. He figured that he should let Kagami know about any and all new developments, mostly so that Kagami didn’t blow their cover, but also because he did feel a tiny smidgen of guilt for having dragged Kagami into this mess.

Kagami replied pretty fast. _Whatever. As long as Kuroko doesn’t find out I don’t really care._

Aomine wanted to argue. What was so bad about Tetsu finding out? But the more he thought about it, the more he realized he felt the same way. It wasn’t that he thought Tetsu wouldn’t be supportive. He didn’t want to tell Tetsu because this whole thing was way too embarrassing. Aomine had fucked up plenty of times in the past, but this was by far the most stupid, childish thing he’d ever done/put someone through.

Tetsu would tell Satsuki and just like in his nightmare Satsuki would cry and Tetsu would support it and the last thing he needed was to be stuck with Kagami indefinitely.

Kagami sent another text. _Up for some ball? Or are you too chicken_

Man, seriously, Aomine thought. _Fuck_ this guy. 

* * *

His phone woke him up about an hour and a half before he was planning on getting out of bed. Groggy, he didn’t even check to see who was calling and put the phone up to his ear to answer.

“Satsuki, it’s too early--”

“Good morning, Aominecchi!”

Aomine immediately ended the call. He was in no mood to listen to Kise’s chipper voice at such an ungodly hour on a Monday of all days.

The phone rang again and Aomine silenced it, but he was forced to answer it when Kise called a third time.

“What?” he growled.

“Okay, Aominecchi, you’re probably going to get mad at me but I have to tell you something.”

Aomine felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Where had he heard this before?

“What, Kise?”

Aomine braced himself. Kise probably told his team, or he was about to tell him that Midorima was going to transfer to Touou, or some other worst-case scenario type thing--

“I told Kurokocchi about you and Kagamicchi.”

Aomine’s breath caught in his throat. The absolute worst-case scenario, then. Oh, he was wide awake now.

“See, I tried calling you after we left you and Kagamicchi to talk but you didn’t answer so I called Kagamicchi and he said you guys worked things out. It wasn’t really fair that Kurokocchi was the only one out of the loop, and since Midorimacchi had the honors of telling Akashicchi I thought it was only fair that I get the chance to break the news to someone--”

Aomine sat straight up in bed, barely listening to Kise’s stupid babbling. Oh shit. He’d _just_ managed to calm Kagami about this whole mess...He was going to be so mad! All that time spent softening Kagami up and warming up to him was for nothing! He’d even played extra rounds of street ball with him and _complimented_ him!

What a wasted effort!

“Kise,” Aomine did not even bother to let Kise finish his speech. “Did you tell Kagami that you were going to tell Tetsu?”

“Eh? No, I didn’t want him to get mad at me.”

Aomine tried his very best to calm down. “Do you mean everyone...does that mean you told Murasakibara, too?”

“Oh. Oops! No, I forgot about him,” Kise went on cheerfully.

“ _Kise!_ ” Aomine was livid. “I’m seriously going to kick your ass! I’m getting on the next train to Kanagawa you fucking thick headed, sparkly, dumb--”

“Wah, Aominecchi calm down! Sure, Kurokocchi was a little upset, but--”

“Tetsu was upset?!” Oh shit, oh shit! “Upset how?! Like, angry or sad? Or disappointed? Fuck, Kise!”

“Aominecchi, I think underneath it all he was happy--”

Aomine hung up. He was seriously not in the mood for this. He called Kagami but he didn’t answer. He felt weird leaving a text, so instead he rushed his morning routine. If he got ready early enough he would have enough time to make it all the way to Seirin before Tetsu found Kagami and still make it back to Touou in time for at least one morning class. It was a brilliant plan.

One that Satsuki was not having.

He ran into her on the way out. “Sorry, Satsuki, go without me today. I have to go do something--”

She held him back by his jacket. “Oh no you don’t! You can’t afford anymore tardies or absences!”

“This is an emergency!” he tried to get away.

“So is this, Dai-chan! You’ll fail!” she grabbed him with both hands and he remembered how strong she was.  

“I won’t fail, just tell them something--” he was trying to get out of her grasp, but didn’t want to hurt her.

“Dai-chan, you can’t! If you don’t go right now then you’ll fail and you’ll get kicked off the team! Imayoshi-san might have let it slide but Wakamatsu-senpai definitely won’t and you know it!”

That did give him pause, but didn’t stop him. “I’ll call Ryo, he can cover for me--”

“You give me no choice, Dai-chan,” Satsuki sounded sad as she went into her bag and pulled out a magazine.

“What is that?” Aomine asked suspiciously.

“You know very well what it is,” she replied fanning herself with it.

His latest Mai-chan magazine, the one he wanted with the sexy winter wear. “You wouldn’t.”

Satsuki looked at him dead on and ripped out a page with no remorse.

“Gah!” Aomine gasped and reached out an arm. “That was just the contents page, right? Tell me there’s no picture on there--”

She ripped out another page and started walking backwards down the road.

“Satsuki!”

Another page.

“Oh my god--”

Another page.

“Okay! Okay, I’ll go to school, dammit! Give that back to me! With everything you just ripped out! How did you even get that?!”

* * *

Aomine was able to sneak out of his last class without anyone except Ryo noticing, so he made it to Seirin just in time to see all the students exiting the school. He was standing at the entrance gate looking for Kagami, knowing he wouldn’t miss him, and his concentration was so focused on spotting the giant oaf that he didn’t notice Tetsu had walked up to him.

“Who are you looking for, Aomine-kun?” he asked, causing Aomine to startle about three feet in the air.

“Jesus, Tetsu! How ‘bout a warning next time!”

“Kagami-kun didn’t come to school today,” Tetsu reported and that made Aomine sigh in relief, but also feel a little embarrassed that Tetsu had right away assumed he was there for Kagami. Kise wasn’t lying, then. “He’s not answering my messages, either. Is he sick?”

“How should I know?” Aomine replied instinctively.

“I would think you’d know better than me,” Tetsu answered in a small voice and Aomine felt like someone had dropped a giant bucket of guilt on his head.

“Ah, Tetsu--” he had a whole apology ready, one he worked on all day.

“Aomine-kun, you don’t have to make that kind of expression. I think I know why you’re here.”

Aomine put an arm behind his head. “Kise told me he told you...about me and Kagami. He said you sounded upset.”

Aomine’s heart was beating abnormally. He thought--hoped--maybe it was heartburn, and it was all because he was sure Tetsu would see right through this ruse. With those eyes of his, how could he believe it was real? How could Aomine think for a second he could fool Tetsu? Tetsu who knew him almost as well as Satsuki--

“I would have liked to learn about your relationship sooner. It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”

Oh my god Tetsu believed it.

“What do you mean it would have saved you a lot of trouble?” Aomine asked suspiciously with his eyes narrowed.

Tetsu went into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “We worked really hard to compile this list, you know. I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of effort.”

He made to throw it in the nearest waste can, but it was Tetsu, so it went nowhere near the garbage and Aomine was able to snatch it out of the air like Tetsu had actually thrown it to him on purpose.

Tetsu looked like he was about to reach for paper so Aomine quickly shoved it down his pants.

“That won’t stop me,” Tetsu said with a serious expression.

Aomine held his crotch obscenely. “I’m sure Kagami will be happy to hear you want to touch me here,” he teased and Tetsu backed down.

“Wait a minute,” Aomine remembered what Tetsu said. “What do you mean _we_? Who exactly is _we_? And what is this list anyway?” He pointed to his crotch. And what did he mean he felt like he _wasted effort_? Tetsu, that little shit.

Tetsu blinked at him and turned away without answering. It made Aomine nervous.

“So, ah, you’re really not upset?” Aomine had to be sure. He had to be one hundred percent certain that he and Tetsu were good.

He calmed down when Tetsu gave him a small smile. “I’m not upset. I’m quite the opposite, actually. It makes me a little happy.”

He looked way more than a little happy, Aomine thought, but didn’t comment on it.

“I’m going to Kagami-kun’s,” Tetsu said suddenly.

Aomine nodded. “Don’t you have practice?”

“Yes, but I’ll go see Kagami-kun first. What will you do?”

“I’ll go too,” Aomine decided, keeping pace with Tetsu, but regretted it when Tetsu began asking questions.

“So when did this development happen? Was it a certain event that moved the process along?” he had a twinkle in his eye that made Aomine shiver.

“Ah,” Aomine stalled making mental notes to remember everything he said to his best friend. “Yeah, a certain event…”

* * *

They were just about to buzz Kagami’s apartment when the door opened and a girl that looked about their age walked out. She was wearing a Touou uniform and she obviously recognized Aomine. When their eyes met she blushed and gave him a small nod before hurrying along down the street. Aomine watched her until she turned the corner and was out of sight. 

“Hey, Tetsu, did you know that a Touou student lived in this building--wha--Tetsu?”

Aomine almost jumped back when he saw the angry look on Tetsu’s face.

“A Touou student does not live in this building.” Cold dread washed over Aomine. He often forgot that Tetsu could be as scary as Akashi.

He walked into the building and marched up the stairs.

“Wait, Tetsu, what’s with you all of a sudden?” Aomine stayed close to him and pulled on his arm to get his attention.

Tetsu stopped and looked at him over his shoulder. “Seriously, Aomine-kun? Isn’t it obvious that girl came from Kagami-kun’s apartment?”

Aomine didn’t know what to say. “Um...no? How is it obvious?”

“Well, it’s obvious to me because I’m familiar with Kagami-kun’s neighbors.”

Aomine stopped walking when he realized what Tetsu was getting at. “Hey,” he said weakly. “That doesn’t prove that she came from Kagami’s apartment…”

Tetsu was totally misreading Aomine’s surprise as something else and his expression softened when he looked at Aomine. “Aomine-kun, I’m sure Kagami-kun has a rational explanation for this. Honestly though, I’d expect this kind of thing from you but not from him.”

It took a second for Tetsu’s words to sink in. “ _Hey!_ What the hell is that supposed to mean!”

Tetsu gave Aomine an “are you kidding” expression but didn’t say anything and knocked loudly on Kagami’s door.

Exactly what kind of reputation did he have?! And how could he make it a reality??

It didn’t take long for Kagami to answer the door and when he did, he did so shirtless and with a hickey on his chest. Aomine couldn’t take his eyes off it. This was also the first time he’d seen Kagami shirtless, having missed it/not cared for it back when they ran into each other at the hot springs. He felt Tetsu’s eyes on him, but he didn’t, or couldn’t look away from Kagami to see what kind of expression Tetsu had on his face this time.

“Yo,” he gave them his usual greeting. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Kagami-kun, did a girl just leave your apartment?”

Kagami scratched his chest under that ring he always wore and looked at Tetsu while Aomine tried to get his attention without also grabbing Tetsu’s attention.

 _Say no, say no_ , Aomine tried to tell him with his eyes.

“Yeah, so?”

Kagami was an idiot.

“You’re despicable, Kagami-kun,” his voice was cold and unforgiving.

Kagami’s eyes widened at that. “Hah?!”

He looked at Aomine for help, but Aomine was still dumbfounded at the fact that Kagami had a girl--from _his_ school--in his apartment, along with a love mark on his chest. Once again, Tetsu read Aomine’s expression as something else.

“And that mark--” Tetsu started but Aomine snapped out of whatever it was he was feeling and stepped in.

“That was me,” Aomine lied, not meeting either of their eyes. “Tetsu, could you just wait for a second? I think there’s something Kagami and I need to talk about.”

He put a hand on Kagami’s collarbone and pushed him backwards, down the hall and into the first door he saw, which, very lucky for him, turned out to be Kagami’s bedroom. Good, to Tetsu it would look like Aomine was familiar with the layout of the apartment, and not like it was his first time inside.

But since it was the first time he was inside, he took a look around the room. The bed was unmade and Aomine felt his insides squeeze. It was a little embarrassing that he was so shocked to learn about this side of Kagami.  

“You had a girl in here?!” Aomine hissed.

Kagami shut the door. “Yeah? And? So? What’s the problem, Kuroko doesn’t know so--”

“Wrong!” Aomine was still speaking in a harsh whisper. “He knows!”

“You told him?!” Kagami was standing still, fists curled, and eyeing Aomine with that intense glare Aomine was becoming more and more familiar with.

“No! Kise told him!” Aomine argued. “I tried calling you this morning but obviously you were busy--”

“I’m going to kill him,” Kagami growled and Aomine glared at him.

“Get in line,” he said viciously. “And what the hell, asshole! You could have told me that you had a girlfriend! From _my_ school, no less!”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Kagami explained quickly.

“But she was here,” it wasn’t a question. “What were you guys doing? Who is she, then?”

Aomine didn’t know why he was sounding so accusing, but he strongly felt that since Kagami had agreed to this whole sham then the least he could have done was take precautions and lay everything out for Aomine.

“We...fool around and stuff,” Kagami said quickly and quietly. “But it’s nothing serious.”

“Serious enough for you to skip school for her, though. Are you even going to practice today?” It was weird for Aomine to be on the other end of this kind of conversation.

“Yeah, I was planning on it,” Kagami shrugged like this whole thing was no big deal. Did it happen often? He lived alone so all of this would be easy for him. The more Aomine thought about Kagami’s situation the more pissed off he got.

“Hey, what’s with that expression--” Kagami began and it was like he pulled Aomine out of his thoughts.

“Why didn’t you tell me you live this kind of life?! How many other girls do you have come over to your apartment so you can sleep with them?! What cup size was she?!” He asked the last question while pointing at the closed door.

“Are you--Aomine, are you fucking kidding? I don’t have to explain myself to you--”

“Except you do! You should have told me that you do these kinds of things so that we don’t get into situations like this--”

“Oh please, it’s not multiple girls, just her and it’s not like you aren’t out doing the same…”

He spaced out midway through Kagami’s rant. He wasn’t doing the same as Kagami, though. Sure, he could pick up girls (like only four in his life) and make out with them (only three of those four)...but he’d never made it past that, and even then it’d been a while.

And he’d probably have less of a chance now if the word about him and Kagami kept spreading like fire on dry grass. This whole fake relationship was becoming more trouble than it was worth, and Aomine could only wonder how much longer he’d have to keep up the lie.

“Wait,” he said suddenly, not noticing Kagami had been quiet and staring at him for a few seconds. “This...actually, this can work.”

Kagami crossed his arms. “What?”

“Perfect, actually. Good job, Kagami,” Aomine praised, reaching around Kagami to open the door. “We’ll tell Tetsu that we’re breaking up because you cheated on me--”

Aomine had the door slightly open but Kagami slammed it shut again. “No way, asshole! Did you see Kuroko’s face out there? There’s no way we can tell him that! He’ll hate me and unlike you, I have to see him everyday!”

Aomine didn’t give two shits. “But technically you _did_ cheat on me since you didn’t tell me about your girlfriend--”

Kagami put his fingers on Aomine’s chest and pushed him back a little to get him away from the door. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough to have him taking half a step back.

“Uh, _technically_ ,” Kagami mimicked Aomine’s choice of word, “she’s not my girlfriend and I didn’t cheat on you because _you’re not my boyfriend!_ ”

“Tell that to everyone else!” Aomine said, not really knowing how else to argue, but still needing to argue because he was so close to a way out of this mess.

“Sure,” Kagami turned around. “No problem. I’ll start with Kuroko--”

Aomine pulled his arm so that Kagami faced him again. “Okay, no. Don’t do that.”

Fuck. Back in the same place. It was like taking two steps backward and one step forward. He was getting nowhere.

Kagami leaned back against the door and closed his eyes. “You’re so much trouble. Remind me why and how you became my responsibility? Oh yeah--because you’re literally the biggest dumbass I’ve ever met--”

“Shut up, already,” Aomine said shoving two of his fingers inside Kagami’s mouth. Kagami bit down and Aomine yelped. “Fuck!”

He removed his fingers and Kagami grinned evilly. “That’s what you get, bastard. Don’t go sticking things where they don’t belong--”

“I should be saying that to _you!_ ” Aomine pointed at Kagami with his spit covered fingers. He wasn’t asking Kagami to stop seeing that girl; he knew he had no say in that matter. Still, he had to ask, “What are we going to tell Tetsu about that girl?”

Kagami shrugged. “I don’t know! You’re the liar here, you come up with something.”

Aomine screwed his eyes shut and put his palms up to his temples but stopped all that when he heard Kagami laughing. “What kind of face is that?”

Aomine blushed. “Shut up! You told me to think of something--”

If anything Kagami laughed harder. “Yeah, but I didn’t mean fry your brain over it!” He knocked on Aomine’s head. “You okay in there?”

Aomine threw Kagami’s hand off. “Shut up, asshole!”

Kagami kept chortling to himself while Aomine tried to sort out the mess in his head. Did Kagami even like guys?

“That’s none of your business,” Kagami said suddenly and Aomine looked at him with wide eyes.

He hadn’t realized he had spoken out loud, but was glad it was out in the open. “I’m not...screwing anything up for you, am I?”

Still leaning against the door, Kagami lifted a hand to run through his hair. “No. Not really. When Kise and Midorima told me you said that about me...I thought you were just fucking with me so I got really mad. I mean, it’s annoying anyway, but I thought you had different intentions.” He paused for a few seconds, looking like he was contemplating something existential. “I’m bisexual.”

Aomine could feel his eyes widen and for some stupid, weird, fucked up reason his heart rate sped up. He wondered if Kagami could hear his heart pound against his ribcage because it was drowning out every other sound in his own ears.

Kagami’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you have some kind of problem with it, asshole! Because if you do, whatever fucked up issues you have going on is definitely going to make this impossible to work--”

“Kagami shut up for a second, seriously,” Aomine said hastily. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

Kagami had thought that Aomine was trying to insult him. Aomine hadn’t even thought of that.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Aomine didn’t know what else to say and the atmosphere was becoming awkward. He changed the subject. “Okay, we’ll tell Tetsu that girl is your cousin or something.”

“My cousin? Really? That’s the best you could come up--”

“Do you have a better idea?!” Aomine bickered. “God, you’re so ungrateful--”

“Wait a second, _I’m_ ungrateful? Aomine, do you even hear yourself when you talk?”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

“My fucking point exactly. Oh my god, where is the camera you _have_ to see yourself right now--”

Aomine groaned. “Enough, Kagami, enough. We’ve kept Tetsu waiting a long time already if he waits any longer I’m sure he’ll never let us live it down.”

“Oh shit, yeah,” Kagami turned around and opened the door but Aomine shoved him aside and back so that he could exit first.

“Put a shirt on, idiot!” he yelled at Kagami, slapping the hickey on his chest. “And I better not see another one of those things again!”

He made his way to exit the room but Kagami yanked him back by the shirt. While Aomine was stumbling and trying not to fall over Kagami reached into a drawer and pulled out a t-shirt. He whipped it at Aomine so that it smacked him in the arm before putting it on and making his way towards the door again.

Annoyed as shit, Aomine shoved Kagami to the side again. They were fighting like children, each trying to get through the door before the other. Somewhere in between the pushing and the shoving they managed to get through the door, but the space was tight and Aomine tripped over his own foot. Kagami had been hanging onto Aomine’s shirt and the balance was all wrong so when Aomine’s foot got caught with his other foot he went tumbling down with Kagami right on top of him.

He was right in the middle of falling when his eyes met Tetsu’s, but it was too late, too late to warn him and too late to stop himself. He and Kagami fell right on top of Tetsu, like a comical dog pile, except it wasn’t comical because Tetsu bumped his head and got knocked out.

Aomine hastily sat up and shoved Kagami off of him, reaching for Tetsu and shaking his shoulders.

“Oh my god we’ve killed Tetsu!”

* * *

It had been seven minutes and Tetsu still hadn’t come to. Kagami had carried him to the sofa and he and Aomine had propped him up so he was sitting upright with his head leaned back. They had tied a bag of ice onto his head and Kagami had called his coach to let her know Tetsu wasn’t going to make it to practice.

Aomine and Kagami were sitting seiza style on the floor in front of him, waiting for him to wake up.

“He looks ridiculous with that ice on his head like that,” Kagami said almost starting to laugh.

“Shut up,” Aomine whispered, a little panicked. He elbowed Kagami. “He’ll hear you, do you want to die?”

Kagami yawned. “When do you think he’ll wake up? This is so annoying.”

“You’re annoying!” Aomine argued, just barely stopping himself from elbowing Kagami again. “It’s your fault we’re in this situation.”

Kagami looked at Aomine as if he were a species he didn’t understand/didn’t have time for. “Aomine,” he sounded pissed off and annoyed. “Nothing about this is my fault. I’m totally innocent in all of this. Here, let me explain: Kuroko was obviously trying to eavesdrop on our conversation so him getting knocked out is his own damn fault. As for you--YOU are the one who got us into this mess, YOU. Do you understand that? You. Y-O-U, you dumbass--" 

Aomine grabbed Kagami’s face with his thumb and forefinger but before he could utter a word Tetsu started shifting.

“Tetsu!” Aomine exclaimed when he opened an eye. “Are you oka--mph!”

Tetsu had lifted a foot and kicked him square in the face. Chin throbbing and nose stinging, Aomine put a hand over his mouth in attempt to stop his eyes from watering and glared at Kagami who looked like he was about to burst into laughter.

“Yo, Kuroko, it’s about time you wake--haaa--”

Kagami got a kick in the solar plexus. “Okay,” he mumbled, doubling over. “I accept that.”

“Can someone please tell me what we’re doing here,” Tetsu said in his no-bullshit-I-ain’t-fuckin’-around voice. Aomine shivered.

During the seven minutes that Tetsu was unconscious, Aomine had been able to catch Kagami up to speed on what he’d told Tetsu: that they’d been together since a little before the Winter Cup, but hadn’t become “exclusive” until a little while after Seirin had trumped Touou, and that it was one of Tetsu’s movie dates that got the ball rolling (Tetsu looked so hopeful that Aomine seriously couldn’t let him down).

“Ah,” Aomine started weakly, afraid of getting kicked again. “We came over here to get Kagami and--”

“I know what we’re doing here, Aomine-kun. I meant now, this second,” Tetsu interrupted curtly and Aomine froze. Sheesh, Tetsu was in a mood.

Feeling sweat beading up on the back of his neck due to Tetsu’s glare, Aomine broke down and retold Tetsu the whole explanation he had fabricated.

“And I’m sorry we didn’t tell you but it’s way too embarrassing,” Aomine finished stupidly. The whole time Kagami had been quiet, something Aomine was glad for. The longer the oaf kept his mouth shut the better off Aomine would be.

Tetsu looked like he’d calmed down since Aomine started the explanation, and now he looked back and forth at them in wonder.

“Who made the first move?” he asked suddenly, with curious eyes.

Crap, they hadn’t practiced that part!

“This guy,” Kagami finally had his say, pointing his thumb at Aomine. “He was really annoying about it, too. Hey, Kuroko can you believe this guy would buy _flowers_ \--”

“Shut. _Up_ ,” Aomine growled. Completely embarrassed he avoided Tetsu’s gaze, but felt him watching him with those observant eyes of his. He stood up quickly before Tetsu or Kagami could say something stupid. “Don’t you have practice, idiot?”

Kagami stood up, too. “Yeah, I should get going. Kuroko, I told Coach you won’t make it so just go home--” he flinched away when Tetsu reached out an arm, but then realized he was just stretching and calmed down. “Actually, why don’t you come anyway so I can keep an eye on your head? Plus, Coach could check you out.”

They left Kagami’s apartment with Tetsu still wearing the icepack on his head.

* * *

Practice had been more annoying than usual, and as Aomine lay on his bed recalling how infuriating his teammates had been about the whole Kagami situation, the more Aomine felt like he was seriously going to walk all the way to Midorima’s house and punch him right in the face.

He’d get Takao too if he had to.

But that was too far, so they were safe for the time being.

He rolled over so that his face was in the pillow and squeezed his eyes shut. His stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. It was squirming around, driving him crazy and making him feel hot all over.

Agh, he couldn’t believe Tetsu knew. This was horrible, embarrassing, and just plain dumb.  

Aomine remembered the look on Tetsu’s face when he and Kagami had kneeled in front of him and explained their secret relationship and he moved his head so that it was under the pillow, as if the pillow could shield him from such silly, annoying thoughts.

Tetsu had looked like how Aomine looked when he found out Mai-chan was coming out with a new shoot and the magazine or booklet came with a bonus DVD. That was a big deal...he’d never be able to disappoint Tetsu.

And what was the deal with Kagami’s girl? He wondered if he could find her at school...but what would he even say to her?

No, he didn’t want to talk to her at all. Whatever Kagami did on his own time was his own business, and whether Aomine liked it or not he knew he had to keep his mouth shut about it.

It’s not that it bothered him (it bothered him, it really bothered him--but he had no idea _why_ ), he just hated that Kagami had an experience that Aomine didn’t. The odd, churning feeling he felt in a pit deeper than where his stomach was fluttering around like a desperate blind bat confused the hell out of Aomine. Was he seriously the only virgin--

The door to his room slammed open, breaking his train of thought, but he didn’t move from where his head was buried under the pillows. His guest didn’t say anything, so he pretended to be asleep, needing more time alone with his thoughts.

He felt the side of the mattress dip and then a weight on his back as Satsuki--he recognized her scent--laid down on top of him. He lifted his head onto the pillow only for his face to be covered by her hair. She was laying on her back on his back, using him like he was part of the mattress.

“Tetsu-kun told me about you and Kagamin--”

He rolled over and sat up, accidentally throwing her off the bed.

“Dai-chan!” she screeched. “God, you’re the worst! The biggest dummy ever, I swear!”

Of course Tetsu told Satsuki. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Aomine lay back down, this time on his side and facing away from her.

“Not now, Satsuki,” he muttered, closing his eyes.

“Tell me everything!”

“No.”

“Dai-chan, I’ll ask Kagamin--”

“Do it, then. I don’t care.”

She was quiet for a few seconds. “Did something happen?”

“No.”

“Dai-chan--”

“No!”

“Tetsu-kun said there was a girl in Kagamin’s--”

That caused him to sit up again. Of course Tetsu would tell her all of the details. The cat was officially out of the bag. The beans had officially been spilled.

“If Tetsu said all of that then you’ll also know that she is his cousin--that I didn’t know about, by the way--but we’re good, okay? I’ll tell you all about me and Kagami and our blossoming relationship another time, okay?” he finished bitterly.

Satsuki sighed loudly from her spot on the floor and shifted around so that her back was against his bed. “Well, as long as you guys are good.”

“We’re perfect,” he muttered bluntly.

“Then...I have a favor for you to ask Kagamin.”

Aomine wondered if Kagami would ever grant him any favors ever again in his life. Still, it was Satsuki so he had to ask. “What?”

“Well, Tetsu-kun’s birthday is coming up at the end of the month and I was wondering if he’d be okay with us having a small party for him at his apartment?”

Aomine ran his fingers through his short hair and answered right away, “I’ll ask him. It’s Tetsu, though, so I’m sure he’ll be okay with it.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds before Satsuki turned and rested her chin on the edge of the bed. Aomine met her gaze but didn’t say anything.

“So can I sit with you or are you going to throw me off again?”

Aomine couldn’t help but grin. He moved over on his bed, “Come here.”

He knew what was coming and knowing he really couldn’t win against Satsuki, he prepared himself to tell her all the lies he had told to Tetsu and everyone else. He was getting used to people asking about him and Kagami but would probably always have to keep getting used to calling him his boyfriend.

No. That word was still way too weird.

 

 


	5. AhoBaka love kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter has underage drinking.

“What does your dick look like?”

Aomine watched with slight disgust as Kagami, who had just taken a drink from his soda, spit it out all down his front, some of the dark liquid even escaping through his nose. He waited patiently for him to stop choking so that Kagami could answer his question.

Kagami wiped himself dry and he threw wild glances around the burger joint they were in before leaning in towards Aomine across the table and whispering harshly, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Asking that kind of question here of all places! And don’t be so loud!”

He was pretty much shouting by the end but Aomine didn’t feel like arguing with him about being loud because, really, Kagami had a huge mouth and short temper. _He_ was the loud one, so he wore a blank expression and shrugged when he answered, “What? It’s just a question. So?”

Kagami stared at him for a few seconds. “So, what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Aomine tried to control the expectant look on his face and tried again. “Is it, like...average?”

Kagami looked at him as if he couldn’t quite understand what Aomine had asked and for a second Aomine thought he was going to answer the question, but Kagami slapped his palms on the table nearly hard enough to make it shake. The condiments rattled but there was no damage. “Dammit Aomine, why are you asking me that!”

He was asking because everyone thought he already knew what Kagami’s allegedly massive dick looked like. He had to confirm the rumors for himself, and in the process gain a tiny bit more information to aid him in his mission to lie to the idiots who put him in this mess to begin with. (Aomine, of course, conveniently “never heard” any of Kagami’s claims of “ _It’s your own fault!”_ )

Aomine wondered how many other ways he could ask Kagami to drop his pants, but in the end reverted back to “Can I see it?”

“No! You think I just whip my dick out for whoever just wants to see it? Is this a weird way to hit on me or something?!” Kagami’s eyes were narrowed as he frowned at Aomine, a hint of a blush barely visible on his cheeks.

It was Aomine’s turn to get embarrassed and he spluttered, “H- _hit on you_? No! _No!_ ”

He was only in this situation because all of his previous attempts to get a sneak peek of Kagami’s dick had failed. He’d tried all the old tricks in the book: peeing right next to him even when there were about six other urinals, hanging around Seirin’s locker room (but Kagami never once showered while Aomine was there), and even managing to go through his phone in hopes he’d get lucky and find a dick pic. But no, Aomine hadn’t been successful.

It’s not that he was desperate, but once again he owed Kagami another explanation. So putting his embarrassment and pride aside he confessed to Kagami, “I just really want to see it.”

Kagami blinked but didn’t say anything. He stood up to leave with a curt, “I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” Aomine caught Kagami’s sleeve and didn’t really meet his eyes as he continued to explain. “Everyone thinks I know what it looks like...so when they talk about it--”

Aomine couldn’t finish what he wanted to say because Kagami had hauled him out of his seat and out of the restaurant. Once they were outside Kagami dropped Aomine’s arm and reeled on him.

“What do you mean _when they talk about it_? Who the hell is talking about my dick?” he pursed his lips and squared his shoulders before sighing in defeat. “You know what? Never mind. The less I know about this the better off I’ll be. But don’t ask me such a stupid question again.”

Kagami started making his way down the street and since he was heading in the same direction, Aomine kept pace with him.

“When did that bastard Kuroko disappear anyway?” Kagami muttered, slipping his hands into his coat pocket.

Aomine shrugged in reply. He did the same as Kagami and put his hands into his own jacket pockets. “Probably when you were too busy bitching about something.”

“You mean when _you_ were bitching, asshole,” Kagami growled and Aomine had eaten too much to feel like arguing with such an idiot.

A few blocks into their walk they were coming up to a small corner store and Aomine was about to part ways with Kagami, wanting to buy a warm drink for the rest of the walk home. He was about to tell the unruly redhead to keep stomping along, but he reached for the door handle at the same time as Kagami and the touch of his skin sent a tiny jolt of electricity to his fingertips.

It had been a while since Aomine had felt the sensation of static electricity shocking him. He remembered that he used to chase Satsuki around the house, socked feet on carpet so that he could watch in amusement how her hair stuck straight up if he did it enough times. Sure he would get a small current too, but he was expecting it so it was never that bad. He’d forgotten that it was an almost unpleasant feeling when he least expected it, and found himself wondering if it would shock him again if his hand touched Kagami’s another time.

“Are you trying to electrocute me, you bastard?!” Kagami cried at the same time that Aomine said, “Why are you coming in here, too? Go home!”

They glared at each other, each waiting for the other to move so he could enter, but neither budged so they stood there looking rather stupid with identical scowls on their faces.

“You are the most aggravating person on the friggin’ planet,” Aomine complained as he started shoving Kagami to the side so he could open the door.

Kagami wasn’t the type to let himself get shoved, so he pushed back. “Stop this, the last time this happened we fell on top of Kuroko. Move aside, asshole!”

He was about to tell Kagami to shut the hell up and move aside himself, since it was obviously Aomine’s idea to go into the convenience store first, as his hand had been on the door handle before Kagami’s, but the door opened and the elderly store owner stood on the other side with a welcoming smile.

“Welcome, was the door difficult to open? I apologize, I have asked my grandson to help me fix it, but…”

“Ah,” Kagami said gruffly, “No, sorry, it wasn’t hard. My hand was...frozen?”

“Idiot,” Aomine muttered, trying not to laugh at the stupid look on Kagami’s face and the fact that he had butchered his attempt to be polite. He went straight to the coffee section while Kagami grabbed a shopping cart and disappeared down an aisle. Completely bemused at the prospect of Kagami actually grocery shopping, Aomine finished preparing his coffee and hurried through the aisles in search of Kagami. He found him in the produce section and approached him.

“It won’t start talking to you no matter how much you stare at it,” Aomine said to Kagami who was holding a tomato.

Kagami looked up at him with his usual frown. “What are you still doing here, idiot? And I know that, I’m trying to decide how many I need.”

“For what?” Aomine asked with curiosity. Tetsu had mentioned that Kagami knew how to cook but he’d never actually pictured him doing it.

Kagami didn’t look at Aomine as he started bagging the tomatoes. “For dinner tonight and Kuroko’s party tomorrow, what else?”

Aomine was slightly taken aback. He and Kagami had gone to eat with Tetsu after school and they’d talked about the party happening the next day, but Aomine didn’t know Kagami was going to make food for them.

“You’re cooking tomorrow?”

He wondered how long Kagami had been cooking for himself. Did he have to learn when he started living by himself or did he always know? He had so many questions but there was no way in hell he’d ask them to Kagami. He was curious, but it’s not like he was _actually_ interested.

“Well what else did you mean when you asked me to host it?” Kagami glanced at Aomine and then continued walking down the produce aisle. Aomine followed. “Momoi called and asked me to, anyway. Unlike _you_ she was nice so I agreed.”

Aomine was still thinking about Kagami cooking--did he use an apron?--so he didn’t notice when Kagami stopped walking and he walked right into Kagami’s shoulder.

“She also volunteered for you to come help me set up the place. So you can come tomorrow after school,” Kagami didn’t look at him as he shooed him away as if he were a fly, but Aomine ignored the motion and stayed put.

It wasn’t the first time Satsuki volunteered him for stuff without his consent, let alone knowledge, but he was used to it so the twinge of annoyance dissipated almost instantly. He could just sleep at Kagami’s until everyone else showed up for the party.

“Whatever,” Aomine murmured. “What did you mean when you said you’re making dinner today? Didn’t you just eat?”

Kagami looked up at him this time, hands pausing from where they were bagging some big peppers. “That? Wasn’t that just a snack?”

Aomine tried not to look surprised, but he was caught off guard with Kagami’s response again. “What do you mean a _snack?_ Didn’t you eat like seven burgers?”

Kagami shrugged. “I guess, but that’s not the usual. You eat a lot too, you know. I’ve seen how many burgers you can eat--”

“Yeah, but that’s what I call a meal not a snack, you glutton!” Aomine couldn’t even wrap his head around the idea that Kagami could _pay_ for such crazy amounts of food. He poked Kagami’s midsection and took mental note of how he flinched away. He was ticklish, then. “But I guess even you can have decent abs. Where does all the food go?” He teased Kagami by pretending to lift up his clothing.

“Shut up!” Kagami swatted Aomine’s hands away, eyebrow twitching at Aomine’s backhanded compliment about his abdominal muscles. “Do you have anything else you need here? You’re distracting me! So either make yourself useful or get lost!”

Aomine had finished his business in the small grocery store, but he loved riling up Kagami so he still felt the need to keep teasing. “But you still haven’t shown me what your dick looks like--”

Kagami grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him close. “I can show you what my foot looks like shoved up your ass--”

“Is that what you’re into--” he stopped talking when Kagami moved his arm to put him in a headlock, but Aomine quickly escaped. “Okay, okay. I get it. You’ve got a tiny dick, I’ll stop asking--”

He was abruptly turned around and Kagami shoved him away with a foot to his back. “Get out of here, Aomine, you bastard!”

“You’re going to make me spill my coffee!” he scolded as he just managed to stop his drink from spilling.

_“That’s your own fault!”_

* * *

On Saturday Aomine didn’t wait for his classes to end before he managed to sneak out to head over to Kagami’s apartment. He completely disregarded the fact that Kagami might still have been at his own school until he’d made it to Kagami’s building, so he wasn’t expecting an answer when he buzzed Kagami’s apartment.

“Who is it?” Kagami’s voice came through the intercom, managing to surprise Aomine. He had been preparing himself to wait.

“It’s me,” he answered and then remembered he should probably specify. “Aomine.”

And then for good measure added, “Dumbass.”

“I should leave you to freeze out there, bastard,” Kagami’s voice bit back through the intercom. He was overreacting, like always. It wasn’t even that cold out, but still Aomine didn’t want to wait outside until Kagami felt like letting him in, which would probably be never.

Kagami buzzed him in anyway and was waiting for him at the door. “You’re early.”

“School let out early,” Aomine replied, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

“Liar,” Kagami said moving aside so that Aomine could step into the apartment.

Kagami was dressed in dark gray sweats and a black muscle fit sleeveless t-shirt. Last Aomine checked, that wasn’t anywhere near Seirin’s uniform.

“So I left early, are you going to reprimand me?” Aomine pulled at Kagami’s shirt and noticed it was a stretchy material. “Looks like you’ve been lounging around all day, unless you’ve become a rebel and started going to school dressed like a hoodlum.”

“You’re the only rebel hoodlum,” Kagami said after he’d locked the door. “And what’s with that giant bag of yours?”

He’d brought a change of clothes with him. “I’m not staying dressed in my school uniform for the party like some nerd! And it’s my normal bag. Your eyes are just really small.”

Kagami stared at him, looking very unimpressed and very put out that he had to deal with him. Good, Aomine was doing his job, then.

He put his bag down and walked into the kitchen as if he owned the place, hoping it would irk Kagami. The kitchen smelled great and he went to the stove to peek into the pots and pans that Kagami had covered.

“Too hot!” he cried out, helping himself to a chicken wing.

“No shit, dumbass, I just made them. Can you get a plate first at least?”

“Eh?” Aomine answered with his mouth full. “Can I?”

Kagami threw a fork at him. “Ask _before_ you grab, asshole!”

Aomine accepted the plate that Kagami offered him and he helped himself to some more chicken wings and some fries. Everything tasted really good, but Aomine wasn’t going to say anything about it. Instead, as he sat at the counter eating wing after wing, he looked around the kitchen trying to find the apron he imagined Kagami wore.

“What are you looking for?” Kagami was leaning on the counter watching Aomine eat.

Aomine didn’t answer and walked over to the fridge and opened it without permission.

“Hey, what’s with all this alcohol?” the fridge was full of various kinds of beer and a few bottles of hard liquor. “Don’t tell me you’re actually a really old dude that’s never made it out of high school? Are you actually a pervert? Hooking up with high school girls--”

Kagami kicked him in the thigh and said, “Shut up, you’re so annoying! Tatsuya has a fake ID so he brought all this stuff over last night. You’re washing all the dishes, by the way.”

“I’m not,” he used his foot to shove Kagami away. “And don’t change the subject. Who’s Tatsuya?”

Kagami raised an eyebrow. “You know him. Himuro Tatsuya.”

Oh that pretty boy from Yosen. If he wasn’t mistaken then he was Murasakibara’s boyfriend or romantic love interest or something. He was on first name terms with Kagami? “How do you know him?”

To Aomine’s surprise Kagami blushed and turned away. “I met him in America,” he said behind his hand. “He’s my brother.”

Aomine was having trouble processing that sentence. “Kagami, please explain. How do you meet someone and then they become your--”

“Shut up!” Kagami turned to face him again and Aomine was pleasantly surprised to see Kagami’s face was a light shade of pink. “He’s my brother okay? And that’s all there is to it. We met in America and now we’re both here and we’re not related by blood but we grew up together so we’re brothers!”

Kagami’s hands were in fists and the look he was throwing at Aomine screamed at him to challenge him, dared him to say another thing about Himuro.

It all seemed very suspicious to Aomine, but he let it go for the time being. Having cleaned his plate he took it to the sink and stretched his arms over his head. “I’m going to take a shower, then--”

“Don’t just parade around like you live here--”

“But I forgot a towel. Let me borrow one--”

“Are you even listening to a word I say?”

Aomine stuck his pinky into his ear. “Nope.”

He almost smiled when Kagami threw his head back and dropped his shoulders. “Shower is connected to the bathroom in my room. You’re the worst, you know that?”

He walked into Kagami’s bedroom and was happy to see that the bed was made this time. He tried his best to shower as fast as possible and when he got out he realized he’d left his bag in the living room. Kagami hadn’t gotten him a towel either, so he had to make do with a smaller one, which he tied around his waist before exiting Kagami’s bedroom.

Kagami was in the kitchen facing the stove, so he hadn’t seen Aomine walk over to his bag and open it to look for the clothes he’d brought with him. He took out his pair of pants and clean shirt along with his boxer briefs, and noticed a piece of paper folded up inside his bag.

He couldn’t remember what it was, so as he squatted over his bag he unfolded the paper and realized it was the paper he had confiscated from Tetsu a couple of weeks ago. This was the first time he was reading it, seeing how the first time it had been shoved down his pants and the girl leaving Kagami’s apartment had distracted him. It was a list with various people’s handwriting on it, and Aomine furrowed his eyebrows as he got up and walked over to the kitchen.

“Oi, Kagami, look at this,” he said not meaning to sneak up on Kagami, but loving the fact that he startled him.

“Put some fucking clothes on, bastard!” Kagami shouted at him. “Don’t just walk around like you live here--and--”

Aomine shoved the paper in his face. “Look at this--”

“Don’t shove things in my face either--wait, what the hell is this?”

Kagami took the paper from Aomine’s hands and frowned. “ _AhoBaka Love Kiss?!”_ He looked at Aomine with a confused expression. “What the hell is this?”

“Tetsu said it was a list everyone worked hard to make.”

Kagami was silent as he read through the list. “Oh my fucking god,” he said after a few minutes. “Do you know what this means?”

“They’ve been trying to hook us up,” Aomine surmised. Of course they were trying to do something stupid like that.

“No wonder everyone believes we’re actually dating, but what’s with the crap on this list?”

Aomine leaned closer to Kagami so that he could read over his shoulder. Yeah, there was a lot of crap on the list. “How many times did they try to hook us up at the movies? Stupidest idea ever.”

Kagami looked at him over his shoulder. “Isn’t that what you told Kuroko worked, though?”

“Well yeah, because that’s all I thought he planned,” Aomine said rubbing his eyebrows. “But what’s with that romantic restaurant idea. There’s no way we’d actually go for that one.”

“I don’t know,” Kagami mumbled pointing to some writing right under that bullet point. “It says free steak there, I’d totally go for something like that. What’s with these stupid rabbits?”

“That’s Satsuki’s handwriting,” Aomine noted, stepping away from Kagami. “Anyway, keep that list. I bet they’re not done trying to make those ideas work. We can’t let them catch us off guard.”

Kagami crumpled up the list and threw it at Aomine’s face. “This is all your fault asshole!”

Aomine was affronted. “What? How? If anything I saved us, dumbass! If we weren’t already _dating_ then we’d have to put up with their stupid, weak ass attempts to try to hook us up. I did us a favor!”

Kagami extended his arm straight out and pointed at Aomine. “You’re seriously the dumbest person I’ve ever met!” After a minute he visibly calmed down and Aomine relaxed a little, too.

“Whatever,” Aomine turned away. “As long as I don’t have to do anything stupid like kiss you I think we’ll be okay.”

* * *

“Then for my birthday I want you and Kagami-kun to kiss--” Aomine shoved a piece of pizza into Tetsu’s mouth before he could finish that ridiculous sentence and walked away from him.

Tetsu’s party was in full swing, and quite a number of people had shown up to celebrate with him. Seirin was there in its entirety, some of the guys with guests, and they were mingling with other people Aomine either knew or recognized. Wakamatsu and Ryo had shown up too, along with Kasamatsu and others from Kaijo. Akashi hadn’t made it (Aomine was very relieved) but Tetsu’s childhood friend whom Aomine didn’t know was there with his girlfriend. Midorima and his teammates were there too, but Aomine wasn’t going anywhere near them if he could help it.

Himuro had shown up with more alcohol, which he locked in a cabinet. He’d given the key to Kasamatsu, who wore it on a string around his neck. He’d won the responsibility test when he’d denied his former Kaijo teammates access to the cabinet and Kagami had looked relieved, going on about how he didn’t want anyone getting sick or going wild in his apartment.

Kagami’s apartment was spacious and it accommodated all the guests well, but Aomine was still having trouble maneuvering his way around the space. He was looking for Kagami, trying to warn him that Tetsu was getting a little tipsy so for their safety they should probably avoid him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Aomine ended up wandering into the kitchen to see it empty except for Murasakibara, who was entertaining himself by eating the pastries he’d brought for the party.

“Yo, Mine-chin,” he greeted around a mouthful of cupcake. “Where’s your boyfriend? Muro-chin was looking for him.”

Aomine froze. “You know about that?”

Murasakibara nodded and licked his fingers before shoving an entire cupcake into his mouth. “Mm, Aka-chin told me right away.”

Aomine frowned and felt something inside him light on fire. Fuckin’ _seriously?_ He was halfway turned around, intending on heading straight to Midorima and telling him off for the stupid words he’d spoken to him way back when, his whole spiel about _Akashi knowing how to be discreet_. Discreet his whole left fucking foot! He was going to shove it so far down Midorima’s throat it’d come out his--

“It’s loud out there,” Kagami interrupted Aomine’s inner turmoil when he walked into the kitchen and draped an arm around his shoulders. Aomine’s instinct was to throw his arm off, but saw the way Murasakibara was looking at them so he stayed still.

“Muro-chin was looking--” Murasakibara started and Kagami waved him off.

“Yeah,” Kagami said. “Saw him on my way up.”

“Up?” Aomine looked at him. “Where’d you go?”

Kagami removed his arm to reach for a cupcake. “Did you make these?” he shoved it into his mouth and spoke through a mouthful, “Went downstairs to give neighbors food. Apologized for noise.” He was speaking like a Neanderthal and Aomine rolled his eyes.

Kagami licked his fingers, similar to the way Murasakibara had done and hummed thoughtfully as he reached for another cupcake. “You know for you being such a child these are actually pretty good.”

Aomine wanted to laugh, even more so when Murasakibara quickly retaliated with, “At least I’m not ugly.”

Kagami made a choking sound and swallowed before saying, “Who are you calling ugly, big foot!”

“Who are you calling big foot, big dick!” Murasakibara glowered, stepping closer to Kagami.

It was Aomine’s turn to choke. He wanted to laugh at how quickly these five year olds trapped in bodies of overgrown basketball idiots managed to escalate the situation. Kagami was at a loss for words in embarrassment but still managed to bite out a harsh, “You’re way bigger than me! Tatsuya told me!”

Aomine didn’t even register Murasakibara’s movements, and he was reminded that despite his lazy demeanor he could be quite fast when he wanted to be. Before Aomine could blink twice Murasakibara had grabbed Kagami by the front of his shirt and pulled him close to his face.

“How does Muro-chin know what your dick looks like?” he growled and Kagami turned his head to the side with a look of disgust adorning his face.

“Ugh dude, no. Wrong idea,” Kagami sounded grossed out. “He’s never seen it, you know...hard. I mean, you’ve seen Aomine’s dick at least once right--?”

Aomine put his hand over Kagami’s mouth. “That’s enough.”

Murasakibara looked thoughtful as he moved his hand off Kagami’s shirt and Aomine seriously hoped he wasn’t trying to recall a time where he’d seen Aomine’s dick. He got along well with Murasakibara; they had a mutual understanding of basketball, even though one of them felt a little more strongly about it. He wasn’t worried that he’d actually hurt Kagami and the three of them stood in comfortable silence while they ate away at the cupcakes and other pastries.

The atmosphere changed when Himuro walked into the kitchen. He opened his mouth to say something but Kagami quickly dragged Aomine away.

“Come on show me that thing you were talking about,” and they were out of the kitchen before anyone could ask any questions.

“What’s up?” Aomine asked once they were out of Himuro’s earshot.

“We need to avoid Tatsuya,” Kagami said. “I don’t want him to talk to me about you and I’m sure you’ll feel the same if he manages to get you alone for even a minute. So that’s your warning.”

Aomine nodded, completely understanding. “Same with Tetsu. Kise’s been doing a great job of getting him under the influence, so he’ll be making ridiculous demands pretty soon.”

Kagami looked nervous. “Ridiculous like how?”

Aomine looked at him darkly, as if he were going to tell him the worst news possible. “Trust me, Kagami, you don’t want to know.”

Kagami shuddered and nodded, the look on his face told Aomine he understood what he meant perfectly.

* * *

The party had died down and most of the guests had gone home. It was late, and the thirteen people that remained were gathered around Kagami’s living room, all with a drink in their hand.

“Let’s play truth or dare!” Kise suggested and looked delighted when Satsuki, Takao and Seirin’s coach agreed.

Aomine was not feeling very sober, so he hoped nothing bad would come of playing such a childish game. He watched as Kise downed the rest his beer and organized everyone to sit in a circle with the now empty bottle in the middle.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked Kagami trying his best not to slur, but his tongue felt heavy.

Kagami shrugged. “Ate a lot so I’m not so lightheaded. You look pretty drunk, though.”

Aomine frowned. “ _You_ look drunk.”

Kagami grinned and Aomine felt happy to have been the one to put that stupid looking smile on his stupid looking face. “Idiot.”

“Aominecchi, you’re first! Truth or dare!”

He felt Kagami tense beside him and Aomine sensed Kagami’s thoughts. His judgment may have been a little clouded, but he wasn’t dumb enough to get dared into kissing Kagami. “Truth.”

“Kagami's dick size,” Takao called out and everyone laughed.

Aomine turned to frown at Kagami, hoping the look in his glare clearly stated to his fake boyfriend how right he had been for wanting to see his penis, but it went away when he saw the look on Kagami’s face. He looked angry and embarrassed.

“You’re all stupid,” Aomine tried changing the subject and took a sip from his cup. “And that’s the truth!”

“Aominecchi if you don’t answer you have to take a shot!”

His stomach churned at the idea. He looked at Kagami, asking for permission without even saying anything. Kagami sighed and took Aomine’s cup away, finishing the rest of it.

“I’ll get you another one,” he said standing up and leaving the room. Permission to answer granted, then. Himuro’s eyes followed him and he looked like he wanted to get up so Aomine spoke up.

“Big,” he said and went to take another drink in attempt to hide his awkwardness, but then remembered Kagami had taken his cup.

“Show us with your hands,” Seirin’s tiny coach said with a sparkle in her eye. Aomine didn’t miss the look the four-eyed captain shot at her.

Aomine scoffed. “Like hell I’m giving you all something to fantasize about,” he stalled. And then not really knowing how to answer but still needing to get them all off his _own dick_ he said, “All I’ll say is that he needs to use two hands when he jerks himself off.”

Kagami chose that moment to walk back in and a lot of them were cat calling and wolf whistling at him. His face was red but he sat down next to Aomine and handed him his drink again. Aomine accepted it and took a drink, hoping the next spin wouldn’t land on them again.

He didn’t listen as Takao had to answer some truth about Midorima and looked around the group and noticed Satsuki staring at Kagami’s hands, so he smirked when he leaned into her and snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. “Oi,” he said once she’d looked up at him. “Eyes on your own extra pair of hands. Stop trying to visualize what’s mine.”

The group laughed as Satsuki’s face turned red and she tried explaining to Tetsu that it really wasn’t what he thought, and she honestly wasn’t wondering about Kagami’s endowment.

Kagami jabbed his fingers into Aomine’s side, causing him to spill some of his drink onto his pants, but he found that he didn’t really care.

“Asshole,” Kagami muttered and took Aomine’s cup to drink from it again. He guessed they were sharing a drink, then. Kagami leaned in a little closer and asked quietly, “Is that what they said about my dick? That I jerk it with both of my hands?”

Aomine blinked, not really understanding. “Who said?”

Kagami blushed again. “No, I’m asking.”

Aomine was seriously lost. “Asking what?”

Kagami jabbed him again. “Dumbass, I’m asking how they know I jerk off with two hands!”

Oh my god it was true! He felt like Satsuki as his eyes roamed down to look at Kagami’s hands, still holding his drink--their drink. They weren’t small. Hell, they were probably bigger than Aomine’s.

“Oh my god, it’s true?” he whispered grabbing one of Kagami’s hands to really measure it. “Holy shit you have to let me see it--”

“Fuck off, Aomine!” Kagami whispered, turning his attention back to the group.

The game went on and the group learned some pretty racy and embarrassing things about each other, like how Hyuuga, Kiyoshi and the coach once had an embarrassing threesome, how Tetsu passed out the first time he’d tried to go multiple rounds with Satsuki--Aomine was so grossed out--and how Himuro could deep throat Murasakibara. (Aomine managed to save himself from hearing about Midorima’s sexual encounters by having to piss really badly.) The dares had been stupid. Satsuki had to lick Kagami’s nipple, Kise waxed off his leg hair with duct tape since Kagami didn’t have a wax kit, and Midorima got slapped in the face with a raw hotdog (that one was Aomine’s favorite).

Once they were running out of ideas for Truth or Dare, Tetsu brought out a deck of cards and suggested they change the game.

“I don’t want to play strip poker!” “Card games are boring!” Takao and Kise called at the same time.

“This game is called Suck and Blow,” Tetsu explained putting the deck down and only holding up one card.

“Sounds dirty,” Kagami said. “I don’t think I want to play--”

“Don’t be a weenie, Kagami-kun,” Tetsu cut in quickly. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes looked unfocused. Man, Tetsu was gone. Aomine wasn’t faring any better himself. Even Kagami looked a little buzzed and it turned out he was no lightweight.

“A weenie?” Kagami exclaimed sounding offended. “I’m not a weenie!”

“Then play the game,” Himuro said with a sly smirk. He was probably the only one sober besides Kasamatsu who still had the liquor cabinet key around his neck.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Kagami took a drink from the cup he was still sharing with Aomine and nodded.

“I’ll play. Explain the rules, Kuroko.”

The rules were simple, but the game was stupid, Aomine thought. Sitting in a circle, they all had to pass the card around using only their mouths by breathing. To hold the card, they had to suck so that it stuck to their lips. To pass the card they had to blow it against the other person’s mouth. The game started on Tetsu’s end and Aomine watched as the card stuck to his lips and he leaned towards Satsuki, looking like he was going to kiss her. She leaned forward too, and they both had their lips on either side of the card until she slowly pulled away to pass it to Seirin’s coach’s mouth.

The card made it’s way around the circle, with few people messing up in between. Takao dropped it on purpose so both he and Midorima had to drink. Midorima refused to pass it to Kise, so Midorima had to drink again and Kise did too. When Kasamatsu successfully passed the card to Aomine, he turned to give it to Kagami and his eyes widened when he saw the look of determination on Kagami’s face.

His heart was doing weird things the closer he got to Kagami’s face and when Kagami parted his lips Aomine’s breath stalled and the card dropped between them. By then Kagami had already leaned forward too much to lean back fast enough and Kagami’s lips pressed against Aomine’s.

Even though his breathing had stalled, along with a small jolt of static electricity, he still felt like all the air in his lungs had been punched out of his body. He and Kagami both jolted back. Evidently Kagami had felt that spark too, and Aomine was reminded about the spark when their hands touched at the entrance of the grocery store the day before. It almost felt the same, yet this time he was trying to figure out how a spark so small, a barely there spark, one he could get turning on a light switch could leave him feeling so electrified. Maybe the electricity fried up his brain. Or maybe he’d had too much to drink.

Despite all that he noticed that Kagami’s lips were surprisingly soft.

They had an audience, and even though Aomine was nothing except curious for Kagami’s kiss, he turned away and took a drink from his cup before handing it over to Kagami so that he could drink too.

The card was still being passed, and Aomine found himself hoping it would reach him again so that he could get another chance to taste Kagami’s kiss. He’d drop the card on purpose this time.

He didn’t get the chance though, since by then everyone had had a little too much to drink and the responsible partners declared the night to be over. Kasamatsu left the key on the kitchen counter and made his way out with Kise’s arm around his shoulder. The Seirin guys and coach went next, followed by Midorima and Takao. Aomine was in the bathroom when everyone else left, so when he walked back into the living room the apartment was empty except for Kagami and the big mess left behind.

“Satsuki left?” he asked a little dumbly. His ears were ringing and his head felt heavy. If he looked around too fast the world would start spinning.

“Yeah, with Kuroko,” Kagami answered from where his head was leaned back against the couch.

“I gotta go after them they were both drunk--” he walked past Kagami to get to the door but was pulled to a stop by Kagami.

“Tatsuya said he’d walk them home. He was fine and I don’t think Murasakibara drank much. He was eating most of the night.”

That calmed Aomine down and he plopped onto the couch next to Kagami. Kagami didn’t move and Aomine turned his head to look at him. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open and Aomine wanted to lean over and seal it with his own lips.

“Kagami--” he began but Kagami interrupted him.

“I didn’t mean to kiss you,” he said opening his eyes and turning his head to look at Aomine.

His chest felt hollow and it took him a second to realize he was holding his breath, so when he finally breathed it felt like the air was made up of a bunch of tiny knives stabbing his lungs. He held his breath again but the sensation didn’t stop, instead it rolled over him in waves.

This was stupid, of course he hadn’t meant to kiss Kagami either.

He nodded. His mouth felt dry, as if the tiny knives in his lungs were making their way up his throat. “I know...just…”

Kagami sat up and Aomine’s whole body tensed in anticipation. Kagami was close, they’d been close to each other all night but now they were close and _alone_ and Aomine hadn’t realized he was leaning into Kagami until Kagami put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Aomine,” Kagami whispered and that’s when Aomine knew Kagami wanted to kiss him, too.

“Just once,” Aomine whispered back for no good reason. They were alone; it wouldn’t have mattered if they yelled it. “Just one more time.”

Kagami didn’t say anything, only moved the hand on Aomine’s shoulder down a little so Aomine leaned in and kissed Kagami full on the lips and Kagami kissed him right back.

Hot, was the first thing Aomine thought. Kagami’s mouth was hot and his lips were soft and his tongue even softer. They broke apart for a second and Aomine moved so that he was sitting on the edge of the couch cushion before leaning back towards Kagami and connecting their mouths again.

It felt really good. They weren’t sober so it was messy and Aomine could still taste the alcohol on Kagami’s tongue but it felt really good, more so when Kagami’s hands came up to Aomine’s neck and gripped him tightly. Aomine put his hands on Kagami’s wrists and ran his fingers up Kagami’s arms, feeling him and occasionally holding tightly on his exploration. Kagami’s arms were strong and Aomine wanted to feel the rest of him--

“Wait, Aomine, stop,” Kagami said pulling away. “Stop, I’m serious.”

Aomine pulled back and his stomach flopped when he saw Kagami’s kiss swollen lips. He wanted to lean in again but Kagami put both hands on his shoulders to keep him in place.

“We can’t,” Kagami said. “If you kiss me like that one more time I won’t be able to...I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“I don’t care,” Aomine murmured, not able to take his eyes off Kagami’s lips. Kagami let him kiss him again but pulled back much faster.

“Mmm-serious, Aomine,” he said starting to speak into Aomine’s mouth but quickly leaning back, his breathing a little broken. “There’s a chance we might not remember this in the morning so we have to stop now, okay?”

Aomine leaned back with a defeated sigh. Kagami was right, he knew but wished he didn’t. Aomine was forgetting that he was a virgin, so anything Kagami wanted to do would probably be way out of his league and he sure as hell didn’t want his first time to be when he was drunk as shit with a person he swore he hated when he was sober.

But holy shit now he wasn’t so sure. Kagami was…

Kagami was looking at him with a soft expression that made Aomine want to say “fuck it all” and jump him right there on the couch, but instead he took Kagami’s extended arm and followed him to his bedroom.

“You sleep here. I’ll sleep in the other room. Don’t leave until morning, okay?”

Aomine nodded as he lay down on Kagami’s bed and closed his eyes to dream about basketball idiots with big, loud mouths and soft lips.

Ah fucking hell, he was pretty sure he had a crush on Kagami.

 

 


	6. cicadas in the gut

Sunday morning brought with it a pulsing headache and a bleary sense of shame. Aomine’s mouth tasted as if someone had tried to shove all the world’s dirty socks down his throat and his mouth was so dry it felt like a desert. He wouldn’t have been surprised if his tongue had shriveled up like a dry sponge. He had his head buried under a mountain of pillows and was covered head to toe in Kagami’s plush, warm blankets. The bed was so comfortable, almost enough to ease his worries. Aomine tried to convince himself that if he lay there long enough, slept maybe just a few more hours, his headache would disappear along with all the weird feelings he woke up with.

He’d almost forgotten that he’d kissed Kagami; almost forgotten how warm and soft Kagami was until he’d checked his phone for the time. He had a dozen texts from Tetsu, and as soon as he opened the message thread a flood of embarrassment and maybe a twinge of regret washed over him, threatening to drown him. He knew his crappy feelings had a lot to do with the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed, but he couldn’t calm his nerves.

 _Please be gentle with Kagami-kun, he promised to play with me tomorrow,_ is what Tetsu’s first message said and it succeeded in making Aomine go red all over.

 _I saw the way you were looking at him,_ was the second text message. When Aomine read it his stomach squirmed and he thought maybe he was going to be sick. He couldn’t even handle reading the rest, so before he could regret it he deleted the entire thread, not even bothering to reply. He hoped that deleting the messages would erase the memories, but it turned out that hoping for that just caused the events from the previous night to rush to the front of his mind with full force.

He kissed Kagami. _He_ initiated the kiss with Kagami and Kagami had kissed him back and oh god he really needed to get out of there before Kagami woke up and came looking for him. He took a few breaths, measured his queasiness and wondered if he could stand up without having the world spin. He opened his eyes wide and lifted the covers down so that he could get a glimpse of sunlight.

Too bright, he thought as he retreated under the covers. Leaving would have to wait until his headache died down or he asked Kagami for some painkillers. Though the thought of asking Kagami for anything kept him lying very still.

What would he even say to Kagami? Aomine thought about pretending nothing happened, or maybe act as if he couldn’t remember the hot, slow, deep--ack, no! He tried filling his mind with thoughts of other things but everything lead him back to Kagami. Stupid Kagami and his stupid hot mouth and stupid soft lips.

Maybe he was overreacting again. Maybe Kagami didn’t even remember what happened, though he seriously doubted that. Maybe Kagami would hate him for making a move when they were under the influence, and Aomine thought that maybe that was his best outcome. He could deal with an angry Kagami, but how would he handle a Kagami that--he didn’t even know what kind of mood Kagami would be in. He had no idea how he would react to their kiss!

That settled it, then. His only option was to get the hell out before Kagami woke up. He was about to muster up the courage to brave the harsh sunlight when he heard the bedroom door open. He stayed still, very still, even held his breath so that Kagami could just do whatever it was he came into his bedroom to do and leave again, no interactions. Kagami was being very quiet, something Aomine didn’t think was possible for someone like him, but the only sound was the door closing again. Aomine still didn’t move, just to be safe and congratulated himself for trusting his instincts because Kagami was still in the room.

He heard soft footsteps coming closer to the bed and Aomine’s heart started beating wildly in his chest. He was not ready to face Kagami. He had to calm down, too, unless he wanted to give himself away; how could Kagami not hear the thunderous sound of Aomine’s heart? It was almost painful.

He felt the side of the bed dip and Aomine almost choked on his breath, as his body couldn’t decide whether to gasp or stop breathing. He froze, wondering what the hell Kagami was doing climbing into bed with him. Did he forget Aomine was still there? Was he still drunk? Hoping that was the case Aomine came out from under his hiding spot to see why the hell Kagami was acting so weird.

What he saw was definitely not what he expected. Right in front of his eyes was a pair of bare, supple, very soft looking, medium sized breasts. He stared at them, even contemplated touching them but looked up when the owner of said breasts gasped.

It was that girl from before, Kagami’s sex partner.

She yelped in surprise and tumbled off the bed, managing to take a couple of the pillows with her. Aomine propped himself up, confused as all hell as he watched her scoot back towards the wall and cover herself with one of the pillows. She stared at him wide eyed while he looked back at her, probably with a dumb expression on his face.

The door opened a few seconds after that and Kagami rushed in, looking sleepy. “Oi, what the hell did you drop--?” he looked at Aomine with a confused frown. “What are you looking at?”

He turned around to see what Aomine was staring at and he startled. He quickly looked back at Aomine, looking more confused than before. “Did you let her in?”

Aomine took that as his cue to leave. He stood up, hating that his head felt both light and heavy at the same time. “I didn’t know you had plans today.” His throat was still dry so his voice came out croaky. “Should have said something.”

“I don’t have plans,” Kagami explained quickly. “Well, I do but later with Kuroko and you’re invited to that--where are you going?”

Aomine was already out of the bedroom and didn’t stop as he heard Kagami ask the girl how she managed to get into his apartment. Aomine went straight to the kitchen and helped himself to some cold water bottles from the fridge, trying not to listen as he heard Kagami talking to his girl. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but gathered it might have been about the party when Kagami said in a loud voice, “It wasn’t my party, plus you’re not my girlfriend. We talked about this.”

He had to get out of there before they started arguing or doing anything else. Aomine really wasn’t in the mood to think about any of that, though he was glad that his...whatever he expected to happen with Kagami had been postponed. He turned around to leave the kitchen but stopped when he noticed Kagami had been standing behind him.

Aomine must have been too wrapped up in his own thoughts and shitty feelings for Kagami to be able to sneak up on him. He noticed that Kagami seemed uneasy and maybe a bit embarrassed, too.

“I didn’t invite her--”

Aomine didn’t let him finish his sentence. “Whatever, it’s your business. I wasn’t supposed to stay the night.”

“About that,” Kagami put a hand behind his head and avoided Aomine’s gaze. Aomine thought he would be the more nervous of the two but once again Kagami managed to surprise him. “Last night we--”

“Thanks for letting me crash,” Aomine said interrupting again. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

Kagami stood still as Aomine walked past him, and only then did he reach over to grab Aomine’s arm to stop him.

Once again there was another fucking spark.

“Wait!” Aomine turned to look at him and Kagami quickly dropped Aomine’s arm. “That’s it, you’re leaving?”

Aomine didn’t say anything. “Is there a reason I should stay?”

Aomine waited for a few seconds, wondering what Kagami would say--maybe even hoped he would say something--but Kagami stayed silent, looking down at his feet and biting his lip. Aomine’s eyes stayed glued to Kagami’s bottom lip, watching as it shined a little from where Kagami’s tongue had wet it before he sucked it under his teeth. For a second Aomine wondered if it would be okay to step a little closer and pull that lip between his own teeth.

The sound of soft footsteps coming towards the kitchen had Aomine breaking out of those kinds of thoughts. He shouldn’t have been thinking along those lines, especially when Kagami had company. He turned around again, taking another sip of his water before heading out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Kagami followed him out but didn’t say anything and Aomine couldn’t help but feel just a tiny bit disappointed that he hadn’t come up with an excuse to keep him there. The disappointment vanished and turned into something else he didn’t want to name when he picked up his bag and noticed Kagami’s girl standing in the doorway of Kagami’s bedroom, wearing a Seirin practice shirt. He averted his gaze and unlocked the front door, his chest feeling heavy and tight.

“See you around,” he mumbled and walked out the door.

He was almost out the door of the apartment complex when Kagami called from the top floor. “Aomine!”

Aomine looked up and saw Kagami looking over the stairwell. He paused with his hand on the door handle, letting Kagami say what he wanted.

“You’ll come today, right?” Kagami called out, softer this time but still loud enough to hear.

Aomine frowned, not knowing what he meant, but he didn’t leave.

“To play basketball with Kuroko. You’ll come, right?”

Aomine almost laughed at the look on his face. Kagami looked worried, embarrassed, and even a little defiant, as if he were ready to argue if Aomine wanted to make fun of him or decline. Aomine wasn’t really in the mood to laugh, though. Normally he’d say yes to get him off his back, even though the thought of being near Kagami confused the hell out of him. He wanted to play ball with him, but he also wanted to keep his distance. He had hoped that whatever it was he was feeling and thinking about Kagami was because of the alcohol, a spur of the moment type thing. Maybe it was the aftereffects of the drinks he had, but his stupid feelings hadn’t entirely disappeared and that pissed him off more than anything else.

He wanted to kiss Kagami he wouldn’t lie about that. He’d never say it out loud, either. That’s all it was, though. Kissing. That’s all he wanted and nothing else because last night he realized that Kagami was actually pretty good at kissing and if he closed his eyes and tried to remember it he could still feel Kagami’s hands on his neck and his arms underneath his fingers--

“Well?” Kagami interrupted his embarrassing fantasy by demanding an answer and Aomine cleared his throat.

“I’ll think about it,” he said and walked out before Kagami could trap him with something else.

The morning air was crisp and a little chilly as he looked back at Kagami’s building before heading towards home, all the while feeling as if he’d forgotten something.

* * *

His phone vibrated, waking him up from his nap and when he checked to see who was trying to contact him he noticed that it was past noon. He had another dozen texts from Tetsu and a missed call from Kagami. He groaned and stretched before dialing Kagami’s number and putting the phone to his ear.

“Where the hell are you, bastard?” Kagami answered right away.

“I was sleeping,” Aomine sighed. “What do you want?”

“Oh,” Kagami said softly. “Well, Kuroko’s waiting for you so you should probably hurry the hell up and come down to the court. Asshole.”

Kagami’s voice was a little weird and Aomine wondered if it was because he was trying to act as if they weren’t going through an awkward rough patch.

“I never agreed to play, dumbass!” Aomine argued back, trying to ease the tension. “You guys are the ones that got all excited and just assumed--”

“Whatever, Aomine, just come down okay? Kuroko and I want to play against you. Unless you’re too scared...because you know you can’t take us--”

Aomine was wide awake now, always riled up when Kagami teased him like that. “You’ll eat your words, asshole. I’ll bring you an extra large towel so you have enough to wipe your tears with!”

“Oh, I’m _soooo_ scared--” Kagami teased but Aomine hung up on him, too pissed off to listen to his taunting.

He didn’t have time to worry about how he’d feel when he met up with Kagami, and when he got to the court he saw Kagami and Tetsu shooting hoops. His stomach did a weird fluttery thing but Aomine wrote it off as him getting hungry.

“You should host another party, Kagami-kun,” he heard Tetsu say before shooting the ball and missing dismally.

Kagami caught the ball and tossed it back to Tetsu before shouting, “No way! There’s no way in hell you can ever convince me to have all six of you weird assholes in my apartment ever again!”

Tetsu threw the ball again, and this time it hit Kagami in the head. Aomine speculated it was on purpose and he laughed as he walked up to them.

“But Akashi-kun wasn’t even there, Kagami-kun,” Tetsu said. “Don’t be rude.”

“Kuroko you bastard!” Kagami hissed and threw the ball at Tetsu, who dodged it.

Aomine caught it instead. “Aomine-kun, good after--”

“It’s about time you show up, bastard! We’re always waiting for you and I’m sick of it!” Kagami walked over to Aomine and snatched the ball out of his hands.

Aomine only smirked back, glad that he and Kagami weren’t tense enough to stop acting like assholes to each other. It was all part of the fun, seeing Kagami get all hot and bothered.

Though he’d rather see Kagami hot in a different way--

Oh my god he had to stop.

“Yo Tetsu,” he opted to ignore Kagami altogether. “You were pretty drunk last night.”

Tetsu looked at him and blinked. “Yes, but I still managed to get some good pictures, look.”

He took out his phone and thumbed at it before showing Aomine a picture on the screen. Aomine’s eyes widened and he almost choked on his own spit as soon as he saw it.

“What the hell Tetsu? That’s kind of creepy and why is it perfectly timed?!” he took the phone to get a closer look at it.

It was a picture of his and Kagami’s accidental kiss during the stupid card game. Kagami leaned towards Aomine to try to see too, but Aomine moved his arm out of his reach. Kagami frowned and moved over again to see it, but Aomine moved his arm again.

“Stop, asshole, I want to see it, too!” Kagami reached for Aomine’s arm but Aomine didn’t want him to touch him. He was too afraid of another spark between them and he didn’t need his muddled thoughts getting more confused.

Aomine turned his back on Kagami and held the phone with both hands up high in the air, slightly away from Kagami so that Kagami had to do some awkward reaching in order to see the picture.

“Wait your turn!” Aomine spat at Kagami. “Tetsu, how do you delete this!”

“Don’t delete it!” Kagami argued. “I haven’t seen it yet--asshole--stop moving!”

Every time Kagami got close enough to reach the phone Aomine would move away so that Kagami couldn’t reach the phone or his arms. He thought he was doing very well until Kagami growled in desperation and moved up right behind Aomine. Aomine instinctively froze when he felt Kagami’s chest press against his back and he lost the will to fight when Kagami’s arms lined up with his own to pull them back down.

When the phone was close enough to reach Kagami took it out of his hands with a triumphant cry. “Dumbass, it would have been easier if you just gave it to me.”

Aomine didn’t say anything as Kagami looked at the picture. His eyes met Tetsu’s and he almost jumped at the look he was giving him.

“I sent it to you, too, Aomine-kun,” he said nonchalantly.

He’d deleted Tetsu’s messages so he didn’t have it saved. How could he ask him to send it again?

Kagami had been unusually quiet and when Aomine turned to look at him he felt as if his heart dropped all the way down to his feet and then sprung back up. Kagami was looking at the picture with a blush on his face so bright Aomine swore he could feel the heat from where he was standing.

He noticed them looking at him and to Aomine’s surprise his face grew warmer. “K-Kuroko you bastard! Why do you have this picture!”

Tetsu picked up the basketball that had dropped to the ground and dribbled it a few times. “It’s the beginning of my collection--”

Kagami slapped the ball away from Tetsu and growled. “Don’t fuck around! And don’t do anything with that picture!”

Aomine was on the same page as Kagami. The picture was embarrassing and it brought back too many memories of what he wanted to still do with Kagami.

“It’s not bad,” Tetsu went on calmly. “Besides I already sent it to Kise-kun and Akashi-kun.”

“What?!” Aomine and Kagami cried at the same time. Damn Tetsu!

Tetsu was still unfazed, like always. “Well I wanted to keep Akashi-kun in the loop since he couldn’t make it and Kise-kun kept pestering me until I sent it.”

Kagami stomped over to Kuroko and put a hand on his head. “Kuroko you bastard--”

“Alright, whatever,” Aomine called loudly. “Didn’t we come here to play? Don’t tell me I walked all the way over just to watch you guys argue over stupid shit.”

“Shut up, Aomine!”

Tetsu and Kagami didn’t disappoint Aomine with their basketball. They played for a few hours and even though it was cold out they were in their shirts and pants only, having sweated too much when wearing their sweatshirts.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Tetsu finally said sounding weak.

“Let’s go get something to eat,” Kagami lifted his shirt up at the hem to dry the sweat on his face and Aomine found himself staring.  

Tetsu was staring, too. “Looks like you guys had a rough night.”

Kagami looked down, blushed and then quickly put his shirt down. He looked over at Aomine quickly, but Aomine had already seen what he’d been trying to hide. A couple of hickeys and light scratches decorated Kagami’s skin under his shirt.

Aomine shouldn’t have been surprised; he had seen the girl that morning but his gut still squeezed and turned over. He at least hoped Kagami would have sent her on her way after he’d left. He had the ball and he bounced it to Tetsu and turned around to leave.

“Aomine-kun you won’t grab lunch with us?”

“No,” Aomine hoped his voice sounded normal. He wasn’t upset or hurt, just annoyed. “I’m going home.”

“Ah, then I want to go with you--” Kagami started to say but Aomine turned around to stop him.

“I’ve got things to do,” he said when he really wanted to tell him to fuck off.

“And we’ve got things to talk about,” Kagami stood his ground with a frown on his face that asked Aomine to test him.

So he did. “Don’t have anything to talk about. And if we did I wouldn’t want to hear it. See you guys later.”

He turned around again and started walking away but was spun around by Kagami. “Aomine wait!”

Aomine looked at where Kagami’s fingers were gripping his arm and then looked up at Kagami’s face. There was no spark this time. “I have somewhere to be, Kagami.”

“And I have something I need to say--”

Aomine interrupted Kagami again by moving in close and softly pushing him back. “You’re not understanding me. I’m going home. Without you.”

He stepped back and Kagami didn’t move or say anything and when Aomine looked into his eyes he almost changed his mind and listened to what the idiot had to say.

Kagami had kind eyes, a scary face, but eyes that knew how to comfort and make everyone feel safe. Right now they looked at Aomine with a worried expression. He looked like a kitten that thought he was in trouble and normally Aomine would feel bad for being the cause of such emotions, but at the moment he didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t have the effort to do anything about it, either.

“Aomine-kun is it okay--”

Aomine waved Tetsu off. “I feel like shit,” he said and hoped it was enough to explain his behavior before he walked all the way home and crawled into his bed to sleep.

* * *

It had been a week since Tetsu’s party and a week since he’d really spoken to Kagami. They’d messaged back and forth a little, but it was always short and to the point. He’d ignored all the other messages that asked for more conversation, so the only time he’d actually talked to Kagami it was something like:

_  
Up for some ball?_

_Not today_  


_Did I leave my shirt at your place?_

_It’s here_

_  
What’s your problem asshole?!_

_ME?! You! ASSHOLE!_

  
He kind of missed him. His basketball, of course. In the week that he spent apart from Kagami, which really wasn’t a big deal, he’d come to terms with his own thoughts. People kissed all the time it was no big deal. Americans kissed even more and it was way less of a deal for them so he didn’t even have to worry about his kiss with Kagami.

“Aomine, you fucker, pay attention!”

He was distracted from his thoughts by Wakamatsu. He’d gone to practice even though he seriously contemplated ditching it in hopes the training would wear him out. He was back to normal but Satsuki had been suspicious about his behavior and he was sure she was talking with Tetsu about it behind his back.

“Yes, yes,” Aomine mumbled back at Wakamatsu and he stomped over to him, looking livid.

“You know what, asshole? I’m so sick and tired of this attitude of yours! Do you even take practice seriously--” Wakamatsu stopped his bitching when the door to the gym opened. “Who the hell is late?!”

Everyone looked towards the door and Aomine’s eyes widened at the same time that other members started whispering to each other. Bunch of gossiper’s really. The whole school had to know by now.

“Sorry to interrupt,” it was Kagami. “I need to borrow that guy for a second.”

Fuck! He came all the way to Touou to call him out? How was he supposed to avoid him if he went and did something stupid like that?

Everyone turned to look at Aomine as he stood up and walked towards Kagami.

“Aomine,” Wakamatsu growled.

“Won’t be long,” he mumbled as he passed him.

He led Kagami out of the gym and down the hall to the water fountains where he leaned against the wall. He waited for a few seconds for Kagami to say something.

“Is there a reason you’re here…?” he finally had to ask.

“I don’t know how you do it, but I can’t pretend that things aren’t weird between us,” Kagami’s jaw was set and his eyes were determined.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aomine was mostly teasing. He was over it but Kagami was still thinking about it and it made him a little happy.

“I know you’re lying asshole! Do you really need me to spell it out for you? Because I will!”

Aomine put a finger in his ear because he knew it annoyed everyone when he did. “Hm, yeah, I think you’ll need to spell it out because I’m completely lost here, Bakagami.”

He could see Kagami’s hair stand up and he wanted to smirk. “Don’t call me that! Ahomine! And I’m talking about Kuroko’s party. What happened after.”

Oh so Kagami could be bold.

“What exactly about Tetsu’s party? Are you mad I didn’t help clean up?”

“ _Yes!_ Now that you mention it, bastard! But that’s not what I came here for. I’ll get to that later, though. I’m talking about how you just out of nowhere invaded my space and kiss--”

“Kagamin!” Satsuki turned the corner of the hallway and sprinted towards them when she saw they were standing there. She jumped at him and hugged him, which annoyed Aomine. “What a surprise to see you here!”

“Ah, yeah,” Kagami looked surprise to receive that kind of greeting. “I needed to see this guy so I made the trip down here.”

“Did Tetsu-kun come, too?” she looked hopeful.

“Um, no, sorry,” Kagami said. “I actually didn’t tell him I was coming until I was already here.”

She stayed standing there, looking very happy and Kagami stood looking back at her, looking slightly uncomfortable. Aomine rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

“Satsuki, is there anywhere you have to be? We’re in the middle of something.”

She looked between them and her smiled faded. Aomine’s suspicions about her meddling in his personal were confirmed by the way she looked to be analyzing everything about them right down to the way they were standing.

“Are you guys fighting?”

“No,” Aomine said at the same time that Kagami said, “Yes.”

She looked at them and sighed. “Tetsu-kun was right. You’re pretty dumb, aren’t you? Though I guess I already knew that--”

“Oi!” Aomine and Kagami tried to defend themselves at the same time, but Satsuki just went on as if they weren’t even there.

“Well, I hope idiots can sort things out without outside help. Tetsu-kun always gets these elaborate ideas and--”

“Just go inside already!” Aomine said pointing to the gym and even giving her a slight shove. She glared at him and walked into the gym, slamming the door behind her.

Aomine turned to look at Kagami. “You were saying?”

To Aomine’s surprise and slight disappointment Kagami turned away. “Nothing. Forget it. It was stupid coming here.”

He turned to leave and it was Aomine’s turn to pull Kagami back. He grabbed him by the back of the shirt and prompted, “I invaded your space and kissed you. That’s what you said. But you kissed me first.”

That was enough to have Kagami wheeling around. “Yeah, on _accident_ and I said so! You just came at me with your stupid _just once, one more and I don’t care_ \--”

Aomine quickly put a hand over Kagami’s mouth and turned him so that he was pressing him up against the wall. Oh my god Kagami remembered it all! He remembered what Aomine had said! Aomine didn’t even remember what he’d said to Kagami right before kissing him, had only remembered how badly he wanted to kiss him. Oh my god!

“Okay, okay, shut up for a second,” Aomine said quietly and removed his hand from Kagami’s mouth. “I did say that.”

“Yeah and then you acted all weird!” Kagami put his hands on Aomine’s arm and pushed him away so that Kagami wasn’t being pressed into the wall. “For a whole week you’ve been weird. Are we even going to play basketball anymore?”

Was that his biggest concern? Was basketball seriously all Kagami thought about? Aomine wanted to laugh at his innocence.

“Of course we’ll stay play ball, I thought you had plans to beat me,” Aomine couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on his face.

Kagami slapped Aomine’s shoulder lightly. “Dumbass, I’ve already beaten you.”

“Yeah, but that was a fluke,” Aomine said. “What are you doing after this?”

“Beating your stupid ass in basketball,” Kagami declared boldly.

This time Aomine did laugh. “We’ll see.”

They were quiet for a few seconds before Kagami asked, “So we’re good? Things aren’t going to be awkward?”

Aomine didn’t like the sappy atmosphere, so he elbowed Kagami in the gut. “Not if you don’t make it awkward, dumbass!”

Kagami almost doubled over but he stuck his fingers hard into Aomine’s side. “What the hell was that for, asshole?!”

“We were having a moment,” Aomine wheezed. “I had to change the aura--”

Kagami jabbed him again. “You are an _idiot_!”

* * *

Later that night Aomine couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off his face. He felt better now that he and Kagami had...sort of worked things out. They didn’t go into detail about their kiss, and there was no way in hell Aomine was actually going to talk about his feelings. Gross. But he and Kagami were back to normal 

Something didn’t sit right with him that the kiss was a no-big-deal-kiss, but he could think about that later. Obviously it bothered Kagami, too, but there were worse things, like not having Kagami as a basketball partner. So for now he could push all of his concerns off his mind.

His phone vibrated and he quickly picked it up, thinking it might be Kagami.

“Didn’t I just see--”

“You’re in a good mood, Aomine-kun,” Oh it was Tetsu.

“Am I?” he tried to calm down. “Must be pumped on adrenaline or something.”

“I’m surprised you can understand the concept,” Tetsu said, pissing off Aomine. “Kagami-kun was also in a good mood.”

“Was he?” Aomine couldn’t help but ask, completely distracted from the fact that Tetsu had subtly called him dumb. “I mean...he’s getting close to catching up to me in basketball. Because I let him, obviously. Is what I mean. Yeah.”

Tetsu was quiet and it unsettled Aomine’s nerves.

“Pfft,” a strange sound came through the receiver.

“Oi, Tetsu, are you _laughing_ at me?” he sat up to glare at absolutely nothing but calmed down when he heard Tetsu’s voice again.

“Sorry, sorry,” he took a deep breath. “It’s nice to see you guys have worked out whatever it was that was bothering you, two. I guess you’re all set for Valentine’s Day, then.”

“We weren’t even fighting--wait, what? Valentine’s Day?” Aomine’s heart seemed to stop beating. He was complete shit at anything Valentine’s Day related and he sure as hell did not want to owe Kagami anything.

“Yes, we’re thinking about having another party. Maybe Kagami-kun--”

“Absolutely not,” Aomine said and hung up.

He did not want to get stuck in the same situation as before and for sure this time there would be no excuses for him if he accidentally kissed Kagami. Though...kissing Kagami…

No! He was over all of this! He had moved on. It was over. This was a new chapter in his life. He’d have to ask Kagami to help him come up with a plan to avoid Valentine’s Day. Maybe they could hide out in his apartment. He picked up his phone again to text Kagami but stopped when he remembered one of the big reasons he was so upset this whole past week.

What if Kagami wanted to spend Valentine’s Day with someone else?

 

 


	7. pissed and confused

It was dark and the air was charged with electricity or some kind of tension that sent small waves of tingles throughout Aomine’s body. He couldn’t decide if he was feeling anxious or excited, though perhaps it was a mix of both. The tingles that rippled from the top of his head to the tips of his toes had him feeling jittery, even though he had no idea why. The room he was standing in was crowded and he couldn’t make out any faces as he stood still, leaning against an unfamiliar counter. The room was dark, with little light emitting from the few blue and green light bulbs scattered throughout the ceiling, making him feel as if he were standing in a night club, though he’d never stepped foot into one. He was confused about what he was doing there so he scanned the room, looking for something or someone familiar. His eyes immediately caught another pair of eyes watching him from across the room, and Aomine felt his breath start to come in shallow puffs and his heart started racing.

Kagami stood at the opposite end of the room, leaning against the wall and watching him casually, as if he were observing Aomine and enjoying the view. He cocked his head to the side, beckoning Aomine over and Aomine didn’t hesitate to move. When he was close enough Kagami extended an arm, palm facing up and Aomine didn’t even think it was weird to offer him his own hand. Kagami led them down a dark hallway and turned to look at Aomine before pressing him against the wall and smashing their lips together. Aomine was surprised, but he kissed back with passion, loving the way Kagami dominated the kiss and pressed him a little harder against the wall.

It was unexpected, but Aomine wasn’t complaining.

Kagami knew exactly what to do with his hands. When they weren’t guiding his face a certain way they gripped and pressed at Aomine’s hips and sides. It was too much for Aomine, too hot and Kagami’s kisses too heavy. His thoughts all stopped; his brain became too hazy and full of only Kagami that Aomine could only relax his body and allow himself to fall into the kiss, allowing Kagami to lead him through these almost sinful sensations. He was drowning in the feel of his hot mouth, his wet tongue and his teeth that bit hard enough to make Aomine growl but soft enough to make him want to cry out and beg for more.

“Kagami,” Aomine breathed when Kagami moved down to his neck. His lips felt swollen and lonely away from Kagami’s mouth. “Kagami, fucking come here.”

Kagami came back up to Aomine’s lips and kissed him, licked at him like he tasted better than anything he’d ever had on his tongue and his arms were circling Aomine’s back, pulling him close and tight against Kagami. Kagami’s hands were big and strong and Aomine wanted them all over. He could feel Kagami’s heat through their clothing, but it wasn’t enough, he wanted to be covered by Kagami until he left his mark on him, until he could walk away, spend weeks apart from Kagami and still feel him on him everywhere. Aomine wanted to feel him, wanted Kagami like he’d never wanted anything before. And he wasn’t going to lose.

“Fuck,” Aomine gasped against Kagami’s mouth. “Kagami, this isn’t enough.”

The look in Kagami’s eyes made Aomine shiver and he couldn’t look away as Kagami reached behind them and pushed open a door. It was Aomine’s bedroom and they walked towards the bed, still connected until they fell onto it, Kagami hovering over a breathless Aomine. Kagami’s hips pressed hard against Aomine’s and he buried his face into Aomine’s neck by his shoulder as he rocked on to him, hard and rough so that Aomine could feel how hard he was through his jeans. If he shifted a little to the left then their erections could rub against each other, so he did just that and found himself arching his back and up into Kagami.

It wasn’t enough.

Aomine reached over Kagami, grabbing his ass with both hands and pulling Kagami against him harder. He wanted to come and he could like this, he could feel it.

“Kiss me,” he pleaded and Kagami didn’t waste a second.

It was hot and Kagami’s tongue was everywhere, it was almost overwhelming. Every time Aomine would cry out Kagami would swallow down his moans and his hands, oh god, Aomine had never felt hands like Kagami’s before. They were warm and every time they pinched at his skin he’d get that small spark of _something_ and it was enough.

“Nng, ah!” he was coming. “Kagami!”

Aomine startled awake with the feeling of Kagami still on his tongue and his name still ringing in his ears. Shit, had he called out in his sleep? He was a little disoriented as he shifted around to catch a glimpse of his digital clock. The clock read four in the morning and Aomine groaned, annoyed that he felt wide awake at such an ungodly hour. He turned to lay on his stomach, content to close his eyes and try to go back to sleep, but the minute his groin touched down on the mattress his eyes widened and he sat up in a panic.

His shorts were damp and sticky.

“Oh my fucking god,” Aomine murmured to himself as he did a self-inspection with two of his fingers down his shorts. He was awkward as he got out of bed and changed his shorts, feeling completely mortified even though he knew nobody would ever know that he’d just had a wet dream about Kagami.

Wasn’t he too old for this shit?

* * *

Aomine was spending the day with Satsuki. It was enough to keep him thinking about other things, but everything reminded him of his stupid dream of Kagami. It’d felt so good and so real, even more so since he’d already had a taste of what Kagami’s kisses were actually like. Could he seriously make him come by just kissing him? It’d been several days and he still wanted to test the theory. He wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t fall asleep every night wondering if there’d be another surprise dream with some surprise action.

Fuck it all, maybe he should just take care of his virgin problem once and for all.

“...and then Tetsu-kun disappeared on me and when I found him twenty minutes later he was trying to get a baby bird back on the tree…”

Aomine was barely listening to Satsuki as she gushed on and on about Tetsu and his heroic acts or his impeccable sense of humor, or “prince-like-charm.” Aomine had no idea how Satsuki could see any of that, anyway. Tetsu had always been and would probably always be a little shit. A genuine, kind hearted, pretty average and smug little shit, one he liked a whole lot, but a little shit nonetheless. And there was no way Tetsu could even reach high enough on a tree. What did he do, climb it? With his bare hands? Did he have to jump and scrabble on or--

“Earth to Dai-chan,” Satsuki leaned in and reached up to tap Aomine’s forehead. He glared but she only held up two articles of clothing. “Green or yellow? Which do you think Tetsu-kun would like more?”

“Blue,” Aomine mumbled, trying to get back onto his last train of thought. What was he even thinking about? Kagami? Kagami was probably at home right now...hopefully sleeping, hopefully alone. Maybe Aomine could stop by and--

“That wasn’t even an option! Answer seriously!” Satsuki scolded and shoved the green and yellow dresses under Aomine’s nose.

“The green one, then,” Aomine growled in frustration. “Why am I even in this store? What are we doing here, Satsuki? I’m hungry. Let’s go already--”

“Shut up, Dai-chan,” Satsuki snapped. “You’re helping me carry my bags. And worry about your hunger on your own. I’m meeting Tetsu-kun here for a brunch date.”

Smoke was probably coming out through Aomine’s nostrils. Once again Satsuki had managed to manipulate him into doing something stupid. “What the hell was the point of waking me up early as hell to come down so that you can do as you please while I walk around behind you and Tetsu like a starved dog!”

Aomine was, in fact, following Satsuki around the store like a puppy that craved attention and she looked back at him like a fed up girl who was not about to put up with his bullshit.

“You’re the whiniest and most annoying overgrown child I’ve ever met,” Satsuki stated as if she were reporting basic facts that everyone knew.

“That’s not true,” Aomine argued. “Kise exists, you know.”

“Unlike you, _Ki-chan_ is actually a great shopping partner. And he’s got great taste in men--besides that one slip up he had when you guys were fooling around, or whatever it was you two had. But I think he learned a lot from his mistakes--”

“You’re only saying he has good taste in men because he had a crush on Tetsu for, like, ever--”

“The only reason you’re here now and not him is because he was busy!” Satsuki snapped again turning away from Aomine and walking up to the checkout counter.

“Too bad for me!” Aomine bickered but stayed rooted to the spot when Satsuki turned around with narrowed eyes and lips in a thin line.

“Wait outside for me and stop complaining! Bully-Dai-chan!”

Aomine didn’t need to be told twice and he stomped out of the store and to the bench right in front of it. He settled himself in to wait and looked around the shopping mall frantically when his phone buzzed with an incoming call. Kise was calling and Aomine wondered how likely it was that Kise knew Aomine was there and had been talking shit. He didn’t want to answer, but it was Kise and if he didn’t get through the first time he’d call a billion more times.

“Hello?”

“Good morning, Aominecchi!” Ugh, that stupid cheerful voice again. Though, if he had to be completely honest he’d say he was glad that it was the cheerful voice. He’d seen the way Kise talked to people he disliked. It was like he was a completely different person. Still annoying, though.

“What’s up?” Aomine tried not to sound as if he wanted the call to be over with already. “Why are you calling me?”

“Because you haven’t replied to any of my messages concerning the Valentine’s Day party,” Kise said and to Aomine it sounded as if he were on speaker.

Aomine hadn’t even read any of Kise’s messages. “That’s because I’m not going. Usually when you don’t get a reply you’d just assume the other person is declining.”

“Well you know what they say about assuming things,” Kise chirped. “I don’t want to be an ass, it’s already crowded enough having you around.”

Aomine almost laughed. “Yeah, then why are you still wondering if I’m going or not? Won’t it be too _crowded_? Besides you _are_ an ass.”  

“I’m only asking because I want Kagamicchi to go. I don’t care if you go or not. Plus he hosted the last party, I can do it this time.”

Aomine didn’t get the chance to reply before Kise went on and on about party plans. Aomine spaced out midway through but came back to reality when he heard Kise ask, “So you’ll be going to Himuro’s party, then?”

Aomine didn’t even know Himuro was having a party, but he thought that if Kagami had to choose one he’d probably choose his brother.

“Yeah,” Aomine answered Kise’s question, not even thinking twice about it. Satsuki was coming out of the store and Aomine wanted to get off the phone. “Look, I don’t know why you guys just couldn’t do a joint party or whatever, but I have to go right now. Don’t call me anymore.”

He hung up and heard Kise’s indignant whining as he brought the phone down and ended the call.

“Are you finally done--” he tried to ask Satsuki but she shoved her bags in his face and interrupted him.

“Take these,” she took out her phone and looked at it. “Tetsu-kun will be here soon. Can you go?”

Aomine looked at her for a good five seconds before spluttering, “What? What do you mean go? Go where? Why did I even come?”

“There was a sale, I had to buy those. And I don’t care where you go, Dai-chan. Just take my bags with you and return them to me safely.”

“Fuck, seriously?” Aomine didn’t move. “I’m not taking your bags.”

“It doesn’t make sense for me to carry them, though,” Satsuki said tying up her hair. “Anyway, Kagamin’s place is close, right? Just go there and behave.”

Aomine stopped wanting to argue the second Kagami’s name passed through Satsuki’s mouth. Kagami was close by and Aomine had been trying to pretend he didn’t know that. But now that the suggestion hadn’t come from _him_ it was okay for him to go hang out at Kagami’s. Actually, he was getting kind of nervous.

“Fine,” Aomine sighed, pretending to sound defeated. Satsuki was looking at him with a knowing smirk and he added, “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Dai-chan looks so cute when he’s thinking about Kagamin--”

Aomine ruffled her hair even though he had just seen her tie it up all nice and pretty. She tried to push him away but he only tugged her hair softly before turning around and walking away with a wave over his shoulder.

He didn’t even send Kagami a warning text that he was coming over. He was a little worried that he would have someone over--okay, he was terrified that Kagami would have that girl over again and want nothing to do with him, so he took a breath to steel his nerves while he rang the bell to his apartment.

He felt his nerves churning inside him, almost as if he could physically feel them whirling around in his stomach. He felt conflicted as he wished for multiple things all simultaneously; that Kagami wouldn’t be home, that he _would_ be home and alone and pleased to see him, or that he would invite him to play basketball.

Aomine thought his heart would lurch out of his chest when Kagami’s voice broke through the intercom. It felt like he’d been standing there for a while but Kagami had actually answered fast.

“Who is it?” Kagami’s ever not-so-polite and gruff voice called.

“Aomine,” he answered feeling a little as if he’d just ran there, when actually he’d tried very, very hard to saunter.

“What do you want?”

Aomine almost sighed at how rude Kagami’s tone and choice of words were. “Can I come up? I’m bored.”

“How is that my problem? Just...yeah give me a sec--” he cut himself off as he buzzed Aomine in and Aomine took his time climbing the stairs.

The door was slightly ajar and Aomine took that as his cue to let himself in. “I’m coming in, then!” he called when he couldn’t see Kagami in the front room.

“Fine!” Kagami called back from another room. “Don’t touch anything you’ll probably break it!”

Funny, Aomine thought. Kagami hardly had anything in his apartment to break. Aomine walked over to the living room and sat down on the couch, looking around idly as if the walls would miraculously give him ideas of what to do. Kagami’s laptop was open on the coffee table in front of him and he leaned up to swipe at the track pad so that the screen could come off idle. He intended to browse the Internet but his attention was completely captured by the website that appeared on the screen.

Kagami had been watching porn.

He could tell that it wasn’t a popup advertisement because the video was paused about halfway through. It was hard to tell what it was, since the camera angle where it had paused made it a little blurry. It was an American website so Aomine had to play the video to see what kind of interests Kagami had. He hit the play button and was able to watch about two seconds of tangled bodies before the laptop was abruptly slammed shut.

“I said don’t touch anything,” Kagami said and Aomine could tell that he was embarrassed and trying to not make things awkward.

He couldn’t stop the grin on his face and he smirked up at Kagami. “I didn’t know you watched porn.”

Kagami sat down on the couch and gave him a sidelong glance. “Are you shocked?”

“Relieved, mostly,” Aomine teased. “I thought you were one of those weird dudes who never watch porn and never jerk off. And out in the middle of the living room, too. No shame, huh? Were you, you know, done? Or should I give you...” he tried to remember how much time was left on the video. “Five minutes?”  

Kagami was surprisingly nonchalant about being caught watching porn and Aomine didn’t really know what to make of it. He wanted to tease Kagami and rile him up but maybe Kagami knew and just didn’t care. Maybe sex wasn’t a big deal to him at all.

“That’s stupid. And I live alone, right? So it doesn’t matter.” Kagami said and reached for the remote to turn on the television. Aomine was probably never going to get rid of the mental image of Kagami watching porn all over the apartment. He probably even put it on the TV!

“There’s an NBA game on in like half hour if you want to stay to watch it. Also, shut the fuck up.”

“Yes I do,” Aomine answered right away and was silent before asking. “So what kind of porn do you watch, then?”

“Gay porn,” Kagami shifted a little in his seat as he answered a little late. “Straight porn kind of weirds me out.”

Aomine wasn’t expecting Kagami to answer his question, much less answer his question seriously and he didn’t really know what to do with the information. Plus, it was a little weird of Kagami to say that.

“But you have straight sex?” Aomine mused, wondering why the hell watching gay porn was different than straight porn. Porn was porn, right?

“Yeah...but…” Aomine’s stomach rolled when Kagami answered in the affirmative. “I don’t know it’s a little weird, I don’t really know why.”

“Do you like boobs?” Aomine asked. He wanted to ask why the hell Kagami even needed to watch porn if he had someone he could turn to for his sexual needs.

“Who doesn’t?” Kagami answered.

“What about lesbian porn?” Aomine didn’t feel weird or dirty at all even though they were talking about their porn preferences. Well, Kagami’s porn preferences.

“Lesbian porn is really hot,” Kagami affirmed looking at Aomine. “Can we change the subject? And can we forget that you almost walked in on me watching porn?”

“Depends. Did you get to finish--”

Kagami grabbed a couch pillow and smacked Aomine in the face with it before bringing it back behind his back to make himself more comfortable. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Satsuki made me carry her bags while she shopped and then made me leave when Tetsu was coming. Do you have any food?”

“Not for you,” Kagami grumbled. “And telling me that stuff about shopping didn’t answer my question.”

“So did you make the food or are you getting it delivered or something?”

Kagami sighed, sounding annoyed. “You don’t even listen when other people talk, do you? I ordered it. It’ll be here soon. You can have the leftovers.”

“But you always eat everything!” Aomine taunted, pretending to pout. “You’ll probably eat the containers it comes in, too! You’re like a goat!”

Kagami blinked. “How the hell am I like a goat?”

“Goats eat everything,” Aomine explained. “Cardboard, jackets, hair. Everyone knows that.”

Kagami looked thoughtful. “It’s the first time anyone has ever called me a goat.”

“Kaaagami,” Aomine bleated like a goat, amused at his own cleverness. He tried not to laugh but couldn’t help it when Kagami started laughing.

“You’re an idiot,” Kagami was still laughing and Aomine sat up to move a little closer to him. Would Kagami be mad or weirded out if Aomine just suddenly kissed him?

He didn’t get to test his theory because Kagami’s phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at it with a frown on his face. It rang and rang.

“If you’re not going to answer it can you at least silence it?” Aomine suggested.

“It’s Tatsuya,” Kagami hardly opened his lips. “He’s probably calling about the stupid party they’re throwing.”

“Kise mentioned that earlier. Does that mean you don’t want to go?” Aomine had thought that Kagami would be excited about Himuro’s party.

“No, he keeps trying to get me to talk about you and it’s fucking awkward. I never know what to say!” Kagami silenced the call and threw his phone to the side. “Everyone’s expecting us to go together, do you want to go to either party?”

“Fuck no!” Aomine quipped. “I don’t! I told Kise we were going to Himuro’s. Why don’t you tell Himuro we’re going to Kise’s? Then we can both skip it, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Kagami realized. “Yeah, you’re right.”

His phone rang again and Kagami answered it in English. Aomine didn’t understand a word Kagami was saying, so when Kagami turned to glare at him Aomine didn’t know the appropriate response, so he gave Kagami a thumbs-up. Kagami grabbed his thumb and squeezed it hard.

“Ow, fuck!” Aomine tried pulling his hand back. “Stop it, you’ll break my thumb!”

Kagami squeezed it a little harder and ended the call. He let go of his thumb and turned to Aomine, still glaring at him. “We’re going to Tatsuya’s party. Because you told Kise we were. And Kise told Kuroko. Who told Murasakibara. Who told Tatsuya. Who just told me! And we can’t get out of it because he’s making us bring stuff!”

Well shit, it hadn’t been that long since he spoke to Kise. Technology sure worked fast. Kagami kept looking at him like it was all his fault and Aomine was offended. “It’s not _my_ fault--”

“It is!” Kagami pointed at him. “It’s all of you! You and your dumbass Generation of Fruities are nothing but a bunch of gossiping fuckers, I swear! Everything in my life that sucks is thanks to at least one of you.”

Aomine thought it was still better than going to Kise’s party, where as Kagami had said, all the gossiping fuckers would be gathered.

“Generation of Fruities?” Aomine questioned Kagami’s choice of word, thinking maybe it was a language mishap.

“Yeah,” Kagami looked at him straight on with a blank expression. “Because you’re all gay.”

“I’m not gay,” Aomine pointed out as the doorbell rang.

“You’re the gayest,” Kagami retorted, smirking a little as he got up to answer the door.

* * *

The train ride to Akita would take almost four hours and Aomine and Kagami were dressed appropriately for the colder weather up there. Kagami had told him to bring an overnight bag just in case, even though he said he would try his damn hardest to not stay the night. Apparently nothing short of the apocalypse could keep him in Akita for more than eight hours. Satsuki had helped him pack accordingly and he was all set and mentally prepared when the train departed from the station with him and Kagami sitting in it side by side.

Twenty minutes in he was bored and Kagami was sleeping. He took a few pictures of his sleeping face and sent his favorite to Tetsu, Kise, and Kagami as well. Aomine passed the time by alternating between playing the few games he had on his phone and looking out the window until Kagami finally decided to wake up with a stretch and a yawn.

“God, how much longer?” he groaned, twisting and turning his arms.

“You’ve only been asleep for like forty five minutes,” Aomine said. “Aren’t you used to long trips, though? I mean, how long does it take to fly to America?”

“Depends,” Kagami yawned again. “Usually like eleven or twelve hours if I’m lucky. Sometimes it’s not a direct flight and that can take up to like eighteen hours.”

“So this is nothing,” Aomine chided. “Stop being a baby.”

“That’s hilarious coming from you,” Kagami didn’t sound like he thought it was hilarious at all.

They settled into a comfortable silence and Aomine thought about what kind of party they were going to. Himuro was the one throwing it and he had a fake ID so there would be alcohol again...but this time Aomine thought that maybe he shouldn’t drink. He turned to look at Kagami and the sudden movement had Kagami turning his head to look at him, too.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kagami looked suspicious.

“What if there are more embarrassing drinking games?” Aomine asked, trying to sound calm about the idea.

“Knowing Tatsuya that’s a pretty big possibility,” Kagami ran a hand through his hair. “But we can opt out of the game, right?”

Aomine shrugged and tried not to fidget. He didn’t think it would be so easy to opt out of the embarrassing games, and if he couldn’t answer relationship questions about Kagami then--wait! He was willingly going to Himuro’s territory? The Himuro who wanted to know what the deal was with him and Kagami?!

“What should I tell Himuro?!”

Kagami jumped at Aomine’s outburst. “What? What do you mean?”

“What if he corners me? What if he thinks I’m not good enough for you?” Aomine panicked.

Kagami laughed. “Aw, are you nervous about meeting my family?”

“Shut up!” Aomine felt his face heat up. “You know what I mean, bastard! We don’t have our story straight so...I don’t know!”

“Relax, Aomine,” Kagami yawned again and Aomine wanted to tell him to keep sleeping if he was still so damn tired. “We have like three hours left until we get there. We’ll just learn about each other on the way or something. Unless we break up and go as friends.”

That wasn’t a bad idea, actually...but the other option, “Hell no, bastard. It’s been like a month since everyone found out we started dating do you really want to look that pathetic? Plus everyone supports it. You can be the one to tell them if you want to break up so bad. I’ll just tell everyone that you didn’t care about me and you never put it any effort and that it’s one hundred percent your fault that we didn’t work--”

“Aomine shut up, oh my god. You don’t want to break up with me, okay I get it,” Kagami huffed and then turned to grin at Aomine. “So...what do you like to do in your free time, baby?”

Aomine’s face burned up, he could see it in his reflection in the window. “Fuck off!”

Kagami laughed. “Okay, sorry. But yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ll look stupid if we both go around saying different things.”

Aomine was quiet for a few seconds while he tried not to think about how Kagami sounded when he called him _baby_.

“What’s your favorite color?” Aomine asked, realizing he knew almost nothing trivial about Kagami besides maybe porn preferences. “It’s red isn’t it? Tetsu’s always getting you red things.”

“That’s because Kuroko’s a little bitch and he keeps saying my hair is cute,” Kagami growled. “My favorite color is black. What’s yours, blue?”

Black, huh? He was sure it would be red. But Kagami was wrong about his favorite color, too. “No, it’s not blue. It’s pink.”

Kagami looked at him and didn’t say anything. He finally smiled, a wide smile that made Aomine feel embarrassed. “Pink? Like Momoi? Oh god that’s really fucking cute--”

“Kagami, shut up. You won’t make it to Akita alive and Himuro’s party will become a funeral.”

Kagami started laughing. “If you’re so embarrassed about it then why didn’t you just lie?”

“I’m not embarrassed!” Aomine defended himself. “Just don’t call it cute!”

“But it is--” Kagami started to say and Aomine shoved his face away. Kagami wrestled Aomine’s arm down and leaned back. “Okay fine. It’s not not cute--”

“Kagami I swear to god--”

“Alright, Aomine!” Kagami clapped, interrupting his threat. He was about to tell him that he’d tell everyone fake embarrassing things about him, though he might still do that, anyway. “Because you’re such an idiot, one that got me in a very awkward and annoying situation, just in case you’re having trouble remembering what you did, I’ll remind you: you--without my permission--went around and told everyone--again, without my knowledge--that you and I are now boyfriends.”

Aomine looked at him because it didn’t sound or look like he was done talking.

“Please respond,” Kagami said seriously.

“Okay, yes I told everyone.”

“Correct!” Kagami gave a golf clap, looking at Aomine with a sour expression. “Now, because you’re such an idiot, to make it up to me--”

“What--” Aomine tried to stop Kagami from uttering nonsense.

“I want you to introduce me to everyone at the party as your boyfriend. As your better half. The one who makes you better. The better looking one--”

“You want to die, don’t you?” Aomine growled. “There’s no way I’ll do something embarrassing like that.”

“And I want you to constantly bring snacks to me all night,” Kagami looked smug. “And drinks, too.”

Aomine sat back in defeat. He was not going to do as Kagami said, but he was done with that conversation. “You’re drinking tonight, then?”

“You’re not?”

Aomine shrugged but didn’t answer. He looked over at Kagami and saw him looking at him and he quickly looked away.

“Is it because of what happened last time?” Kagami asked quietly and Aomine looked at him again. “The k-kiss, I mean--”

Aomine seriously wanted to lean over and kiss him again, especially when he saw the slight tint of pink on Kagami’s cheeks. Instead he slouched in his seat and sighed, stopping Kagami from feeling awkward. “No, it’s not related. The reason why I haven’t decided to drink, I mean.”

Kagami opened his mouth again but Aomine interrupted and turned away. “I’m going to sleep. Wake me when we get close.”

* * *

Himuro was already drunk when he and Murasakibara answered the door. Himuro’s apartment was loud and guests were all mingling and scattered around the apartment.

“Taiga!” Himuro exclaimed throwing his arms around Kagami and speaking in English. Kagami grunted and pulled him off him.

“Shit, Tatsuya, have you been drinking all day?”

“He has,” Murasakibara answered instead of Himuro, pulling Himuro back. “Hands to yourself, Kagami.”

“Me?!” Kagami argued. “Didn’t you just see--”

“I mean it,” Murasakibara glowered and then in his normal tone added, “Did you bring the stuff?”

“Murasakibara, are you just as stupid as this guy?” Kagami pointed his thumb at Aomine, who spluttered to show he was offended. “Besides, isn’t it obvious I’m not interested in Tatsuya? That’s really gross, man!”

Unexpectedly, Himuro walked right up to Aomine and glared up at him. “I don’t like you. Because I don’t trust you. I’ve heard things about you that really piss me off.”

Aomine gulped. Holy shit he was afraid of something like this. He had no idea what to say to him. He wanted to argue, to tell Himuro he didn’t give a shit but that might betray their secret. And again with his reputation. Just what kinds of things did people go around saying about him? Literally all he ever did was go home and sleep and maybe buy some gravure magazines and hang out with Kagami and Satsuki and Tetsu. Why was his reputation such a scary thing?

Still, he really didn’t want someone so important to Kagami to hate him!

“Don’t worry, Mine-chin,” Murasakibara interjected. “He doesn’t say that often.”

“Isn’t that worse?!” Aomine yelped and followed Murasakibara to the kitchen with the extra disposable tableware they were asked to bring while Kagami stayed with Himuro.

“Murasakibara, seriously, man. How can I make him not hate me?”

Murasakibara shrugged and handed Aomine a cup. “I don’t know, he holds grudges forever so maybe he’ll hate you until one of you dies.”

Aomine groaned. “You’re not making me feel better about this at all, you asshole.”

Murasakibara shrugged as he helped himself to snacks around the kitchen. Aomine started making a drink for the cup in his hand.

“I guess you could break up with Kagami,” Murasakibara crunched on a handful of chips. “I would prefer that option.” Crunch. “Since I hate him.”

Aomine stared at Murasakibara flatly. “I’m not going to break up with him because _you_ hate him.”

“But I thought you did too?”

“I do,” Aomine said and quickly amended, “Or I did. I mean I don’t hate him!”

“Huh,” Murasakibara drawled. “Are you sure? That’s too bad.”

He finished making the drink and was about to leave the kitchen to look for Kagami when he walked in.

“Doorbell rang, Murasakibara. Go control Tatsuya before he scares the other guests away,” Kagami said walking over to Aomine and peering in his cup. “Is there alcohol in this? Give me some.”

Murasakibara walked out of the kitchen and Aomine handed Kagami the drink. “Yeah sure, knock yourself out.”

Kagami took a long drink. “Shit, you made it strong. But no, I can’t knock myself out. I can’t count on your weak ass bringing me home.”

Aomine took the cup back and drank from it. He could taste a lot of alcohol. “Who said anything about taking you home? I’ll leave without you, I don’t care.”

“Tell that to Tatsuya, I dare you,” Kagami grinned at him.

Aomine felt cold all of a sudden. He didn’t want to think about Himuro anymore. “How long do we have to stay?”

“Just a few hours,” Kagami said walking around the kitchen. “We can do that much, right? I mean, if we stay in the kitchen and eat the whole time then it’ll be fine--WHY is Akashi here?!”

Aomine startled when Kagami yelled and his first instinct was to duck and cover. When he looked over at Kagami he saw him also crouched down and covering his head with his hands.

“What the hell, asshole?!” Aomine hissed. “Why are we like this?”

“I don’t know!” Kagami hissed back. “You did it first so I kind of followed, like instinct or something!”

“You didn’t have to yell!”

“Sorry, I just got freaked out, is all!”

They both stood up and peeked out of the kitchen to see that Akashi had shown up with his teammates Mibuchi, Hayama, and Nebuya. Akashi was speaking with Murasakibara while Mibuchi and Himuro seemed to be having an animated conversation. Aomine heard Murasakibara say something about snacks and drinks in the kitchen and he quickly turned to Kagami.

“We gotta go,” he said hurriedly. “We have to get out of the kitchen.”

“Wait,” Kagami pulled him back. “Let’s stock up first in case we have to keep changing location.”

Aomine nodded seriously. “Good idea. You grab the food and I’ll make us another drink. What do you want? Vodka okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just don’t make it too sweet.”

“Extra vodka got it!”

“That’s not what I sa--”

“Less talking, more grabbing!”

They got to work, each moving as fast as they could and right when they were about to leave the kitchen Akashi and Mibuchi walked in. Aomine froze and behind him he heard Kagami stop as well.

“Hello, Aomine,” Akashi said. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Oh, it’s you,” Aomine sighed in relief. “What’s up, Akashi? Isn’t Akita kind of far from you?”

“We’re spending the weekend here,” Akashi explained. “What about you? I thought you’d go to Kise’s affair.”

“Affair?” Aomine repeated.

“He means party,” Mibuchi unnecessarily explained, leaning around Akashi. “Sei-chan likes to use funny words. But he’s been in a good mood lately, can you tell?”

“I know what he meant!” Aomine replied, offended. “I’m not stupid. It’s just weird to call a party an affair. And we’re here because Himuro invited Kagami.”

Mibuchi walked up to Kagami and extended a hand. “We never got to really talk, right? I’d like to formally introduce myself. Mibuchi Reo, please call me Reo.”

“Kagami Taiga. Call me whatever you want,” Kagami answered shaking his hand. Aomine thought it was a little weird. Aomine hadn’t talked to Mibuchi before either but he didn’t offer _him_ a handshake.

“Tai-chan?”

“Anything but that,” Kagami said. “Anyway we were just about to step out.”

Kagami moved past them and nodded at Akashi on the way out of the kitchen. Once they were away from the kitchen and settled on a couch in the living room Kagami let out a huff. “So Akashi’s safe, then? As in, we’re safe from him?”

Aomine looked up and spotted him still in the kitchen. He saw Mibuchi laugh at something Akashi said. “For now, yeah. You never know with Akashi, though.”

They were sitting together, somewhat quietly while they ate their food and watched everyone around them get slightly more and more intoxicated. Aomine was starting to feel a slight buzz, too, so he slowed down his drinking.

“Can I sit here?”

Aomine looked up to see who had asked and saw Mibuchi. He’d asked Kagami.

“Um, sure?” Kagami answered and the word was barely out of his mouth before Mibuchi sat himself in the small space between Kagami and the end of the couch. Aomine moved over and Kagami moved closer to him so that they all had more room on the couch, but not enough space between them. Kagami was warm so Aomine didn’t mind.

“Thanks,” Mibuchi said turning to look at Kagami. “Oh, you have something under your eye.”

Kagami used the back of his hand to rub it. “Did I get it?”

“Wait a second, I can’t tell if you keep rubbing. Look at me,” Mibuchi put his fingers under Kagami’s chin to tilt his face towards him and Aomine tensed. He didn’t like that he was touching Kagami so casually.

What the hell was this guy playing at?

“It’s an eyelash,” Mibuchi said. “Do you want me to get it?”

“Sure, thanks,” Kagami shrugged and Aomine felt him tense up too when Mibuchi brought his face really close to Kagami’s. Aomine turned to look at them straight on and narrowed his eyes when Mibuchi puckered his lips to blow softly on Kagami’s face.

Mibuchi’s fingers were still under Kagami’s chin and he smiled brightly at Kagami, seemingly enjoying the flush on his face. He sat back on the couch as if he hadn’t just done something so embarrassing.

“All gone!” he sounded cheerful as he took a drink from his cup. Kagami turned away and took a long swallow from his own cup.

Aomine saw Kagami eyeing him without turning his head and Aomine glared at him. He took a drink but didn’t say anything to him.

“So...you and Akashi, right?” Kagami asked Mibuchi.

“It’s complicated,” Mibuchi pouted at Kagami who blushed again. “But I do have a thing for redheads.”

Mibuchi reached over to ruffle Kagami’s hair and Aomine choked on his drink. Some of it fell out of his mouth and back into his cup and Kagami turned to him and thumped his back while he coughed.

“You okay, man?” Kagami said slapping Aomine’s back roughly. “Don’t be disgusting.”

The party went on with Mibuchi still throwing suggestive hints at Kagami. After he heard something about sexual frustration Aomine walked away from them and tried to make himself busy in the kitchen. He wanted to stay with them and tell Mibuchi to fuck off, but what if Kagami was interested? He was old enough and mean enough to be able to tell anyone he didn’t want to keep the hell away from him. Kagami was his fake boyfriend anyway, so he shouldn’t be okay with the way they were interacting, but Aomine was too embarrassed and too pissed off to do anything about it. Instead he sat at the kitchen table brooding over a new drink and glaring daggers at them.

He was the only one in the kitchen until Murasakibara walked in and sat at the table with him.

“Yo, Mine-chin,” he started to say before shoving some snacks into his mouth. Aomine glared and shoved three finger sandwiches in his mouth and chewed furiously. “Is it okay for Kagami to be talking to that pretty one from Rakuzan? Mibuchi-san?”

Aomine glowered and swallowed before he grunted out, “Don’t give a fuck. He can do what he wants.”

“Eh? Are you guys fighting? On Valentine’s Day?” Murasakibara opened a new bag of chips. He sounded as if he didn’t care either way. “Does that mean you guys are breaking up?”

“We’re not breaking up!” Aomine growled. He didn’t know what they were.

“Well anyway,” Murasakibara went on as if he couldn’t sense the depressing and sulking aura that surrounded Aomine. “You might want to do something about their flirting. Haven’t you noticed that Aka-chin’s been watching them with scary eyes?”

That caught Aomine’s attention. He couldn’t see Akashi from where he was, but he wondered if Murasakibara was right and Akashi was also against Mibuchi and Kagami becoming closer. He didn’t say anything to Murasakibara as he got up to leave the kitchen.

As if Akashi knew he was looking for him, he appeared suddenly under Aomine’s nose so that Aomine walked into him.

“Sorry--” he began to apologize but Akashi cut him off.

“Daiki,” he said and Aomine flinched. Oh, this was bad. He had to get Kagami out of there. “Are you okay with Kagami and Reo--”

He knew it was a bad idea to interrupt Akashi but he wasn’t going to be there long, anyway. So he quickly said, “Akashi, perfect timing. That Mibuchi and Kagami sure have a lot in common, huh? Anyway, we were just getting ready to head out so don’t worry about him. He and I are very happy together so we’ll be leaving you and Mibuchi alone.”

Aomine turned around but Akashi caught his arm and turned him back around. “Look at me, Daiki,” Akashi’s cold voice sent shivers down Aomine’s back. “I don’t like people playing with what’s mine. Something tells me you and Kagami aren’t what you say you are.”

Aomine tried not to let Akashi know he was right, or that Aomine was suspicious. Of course if anyone would know their relationship was fake it would be Akashi. Dammit all, though! He definitely preferred the other Akashi!

Feeling stupid, Aomine quickly nodded to Akashi and turned around, fleeing quickly before Akashi could stop him. Aomine walked straight over to where Kagami and Mibuchi were still sitting on the couch.

“Kagami,” he said loudly. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

He didn’t even give him a chance to answer before he hauled Kagami off his seat and down a hallway towards where he assumed the bedroom was.

“What the hell, asshole?” Aomine growled at him.

“What?” Kagami asked avoiding his eyes. He looked a little tipsy.

“Don’t what me, bastard. You know exactly what I mean. Are you forgetting that we’re in a fake relationship? If you’re going to flirt make sure you do it when no one else can see! And especially not in front of your supposed boyfriend!”

“I wasn’t flirting!” Kagami argued. “It’s not _my_ fault if he’s making advances!”

Aomine couldn’t argue with that, but he still couldn’t stop thinking about how Kagami just kept letting those advances happen. “Are you interested in him or something?”

Kagami blushed again and Aomine’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, you are?”

“No! He’s not my type!”

“Yeah?” Aomine asked with narrowed eyes. He didn't believe Kagami for a second. “What is your type, then?”

Kagami was looking anywhere but at Aomine and had to grab his face and squish it so that his lips puckered out. He looked a little like a fish and Aomine kept squishing until Kagami caved.

“Okay!” Kagami’s lips moved up and down comically. “Yeah, he’s my type. But I don’t want to fuck him or anything!”

Aomine let his face go and pushed him away with an annoyed sound. Fuck, that guy was Kagami’s type? He was so different from Aomine. Kagami probably didn’t see Aomine as anything but a rival/weird relationship thing. He had to pretend this new piece of information didn’t affect him. “Well anyway, Akashi doesn’t seem to believe that. You should be worried about your safety.”

He got a sense of satisfaction when Kagami visibly blanched. “Does he know where I am?”

“It’s Akashi we’re talking about,” Aomine answered with a dark expression. “He can tell how many breaths you’ve taken since you started talking to that guy. And if you’re not interested then why put up with it? Stupid.”

Kagami shrugged. “I don’t know. The attention is nice. And it’s been a while since I’ve hooked up with a guy...so… Actually, if he’s in anyway tied to Akashi I’m glad you came when you did. One more suggestive hint and a drink and I might have taken him up on his offer--”

Aomine slapped a hand over his mouth and shoved Kagami back against the wall. “I don’t want to hear such disgusting things come from your mouth. Go get your things, we’re leaving.”

* * *

They were the only ones in their train compartment on their way home and Aomine was trying to pretend he wasn’t still mad at Kagami.

“Aomine,” it was the third time Kagami had tried to talk to him and Aomine kept looking out the window, not acknowledging that he heard him.

“Aomine!”

He never wanted to have a stupid dream about Kagami ever again. Everything he had ever thought he felt about Kagami was gone now and he was just getting more and more pissed that he would have to sit next to him for two more hours.

“Why are you ignoring me, bastard?” Kagami tried putting his face in Aomine’s face but Aomine just turned his head so that he was looking behind them instead of the window. “Aomine, I’ll sit on you if I have to if that’s what it takes to make you look at me.”

Aomine turned to him and patted his lap. “Try it then, bastard. I’ll take it as your death wish and toss you from this moving train!”

Kagami frowned. “What’s your problem?”

“It’s you! You’re my problem! I don’t even know why I had to get stuck in this mess with _you_ of all people--”

“We’ve gone over this. It’s because you’re a dumbass--”

“Kagami, I’m seriously pissed off right now!” Aomine said seriously.

Kagami sighed and stayed silent before saying quietly, “I’m sorry.”

Aomine’s head whipped to his so fast he could hear and feel it crack. He hoped Kagami didn’t hear it, which would be embarrassing.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t want you to be mad at me anymore,” Kagami pouted and Aomine turned away again.

Holy shit Kagami had to stop making those kinds of faces at him. He had to stop even just...existing around him because Aomine was going to seriously...well, he didn’t know what he would do which was one of the reasons why he was so pissed off. He was tired of being stuck in the same rut with Kagami.

And he hated more that Kagami was right. It was his entire fault. If he’d just been smarter about lying to Kise and Midorima then he and Kagami would never have spent as much time together. They wouldn’t have kissed. Kagami wouldn’t occupy so much space inside Aomine’s head. And more importantly Aomine wouldn’t still want to kiss him!

Still...it was Kagami and as much as he pissed him off Aomine really couldn’t hate him. “I’m...not mad at you anymore.”

Kagami smiled at him, showing all his teeth. “Really! Can we play basketball when we get back?”

Aomine was going to throw up and he was sure the look on his face said so because Kagami added, “Eh? What’s wrong?”

Okay, he wasn’t really going to throw up.

“Dumbass,” he said hoping he didn’t sound like he thought Kagami was fucking adorable. “It’s late. No, we can’t play basketball when we get back.”

“Oh,” Kagami looked crestfallen before his face took on the same determined features as was usual for those fiery eyes of his. “Tomorrow then!”

Aomine wondered what he’d done to however many gods existed for him to be punished this way. Kagami looked at him with a hopeful expression and Aomine was at a loss for words, wondering what the hell he found so special about a belligerent, crude, brash, yet gentle _guy_.

“Tomorrow,” Aomine nodded in defeat, wondering when, if ever, he’d be able to turn Kagami down.

“Great,” Kagami smiled wider and Aomine thought he was going to go blind. Kagami yawned and leaned his head back on the seat. “Great.”

He fell asleep and the moving train made sure Kagami’s head fell onto Aomine’s shoulder.

Ugh, Kagami really knew how to piss him off.   


	8. Aomine interrupted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usually I end up editing some stuff out of the chapters, but this time I didn't take out any parts so this chapter is a bit longer than the others. So I guess this is the uncut version :P
> 
> Ah, Ahomine and Bakagami pull a prank in this chapter...please don't do this to any of your friends or enemies. While it makes for an amusing read it's actually a pretty mean thing to do to someone even if you think they do deserve it.

Aomine Daiki  
Almost One Year Ago  
Touou Academy Year 1  
Interhigh Quarter Final: Kaijou vs. Touou

 

It was halftime during the Interhigh quarterfinals and Aomine had slipped away from his team in order to get some peace of mind. He walked around the arena and stood in front of a window wall and chose the empty lobby area as his place of rest. Physically he was feeling fine. His elbow was giving him a smidgen of grief, but it was nothing that he couldn’t handle. It was a small ache that felt a bit like a cramp and he was sure if he stretched it he’d be good to go by the third quarter. Physically he was great.

His mind had him feeling wired, though; his thoughts were racing. He had looked forward to the match against Kise. Finally, he could play as hard as he wanted. There’d be no unease after beating Kise because he was sure Kise wasn’t the type to let him win without trying even a little.

There had been a couple of moments during the first two quarters when he thought for a second that Kise had been like everyone else he’d gone up against. The look in Kise’s eyes frustrated Aomine, but more than anything it scared him. He’d seen that look before from people who pitied him and people who’d given up against him. If Kise wasn’t going to come at him with full force then who the hell was? Aomine didn’t need any of that bullshit, and to show that much he was going to crush Kise and his team with everything he had and then some. Then and only then could Kise make that kind of face at him.

It was Kise, though and Kise wasn’t going to go down that easy, or so he thought. If he couldn’t go all out against Kise he was sure the tiny flame he had in the place of his passion for basketball would dwindle until it burned out completely. Basketball wasn’t fun like this. He’d tried to convince Murasakibara to play against him but hadn’t been successful. He wasn’t even sure playing Murasakibara would be as fun since he didn’t seem to care enough about the sport. Somehow he felt like Kise was his last chance.

“Oi.”

Aomine turned his head to see who had called out to him. It wasn’t so much a greeting as it was a call for attention. He was surprised to see Tetsu’s new companion, that Kagami Taiga. Aomine turned back to the windows and didn’t acknowledge him.

“Oi, I said oi!”

Aomine turned fully to look at him. Why was this guy out here and trying to talk to him? Aomine had crushed his team after he’d gotten subbed out, did he want revenge or something? It felt as if it happened a long time ago, yet here was this guy acting all casual. Aomine didn’t like him; he reminded him too much of Wakamatsu, both of them loud mouthed and short tempered.

“You came to watch?” Aomine figured the guy wanted small talk since there was no chance of a game with him at the moment, so he decided to humor him.

Kagami didn’t answer. He kind of just stared at him. “I’m rooting for Kise.”

“He’s not going to win,” Aomine stated. Kagami looked like he already knew that, but he didn’t agree with him so Aomine changed the subject. “Where’s Tetsu?”

“With his dog I guess.”

“And why are you here?”

Kagami had been there too long already to not want anything from Aomine and he was beginning to get pissed off.

“I was coming back from the bathroom and here you were obstructing the path--”

Aomine scoffed. “Okay, I was definitely _not_ obstructing the path! The path is over there.” He pointed to the hall where people were walking. “So what the hell do you want from me?”

Kagami looked like he didn’t want to say what he’d come to say, and he ran a hand through his hair before glaring at Aomine. “Basketball. If you’re up for it. After this.”

Aomine wasn’t sure he understood completely, and it didn’t help that this guy’s Japanese was all over the place. What was he even saying? Was he asking for a favor or for permission?

“Are you saying you want a rematch?”

Kagami nodded. “Watching you guys play is making me crazy.”

Aomine wanted to decline right away. There was no point in playing against someone weaker than him. It would be boring and he hated repetition unless he could get some kind of satisfaction from it. This guy hadn’t been satisfying the last two times they’d met for basketball and Aomine didn’t want to waste his time.

He opened his mouth to answer but changed his mind when he met Kagami’s gaze. Kagami looked determined and stared at him with a challenging look. Aomine could almost feel the fire radiating from him, could almost read it in his eyes. This guy was serious and it had been a while since Aomine had looked into eyes like those. Feeling arrogant and over-confident he smirked at him and tried to make himself sound as if he were better than Kagami.

“You want to lose that badly? For a third time?”

Kagami’s jaw tightened and his fists curled. It was easy to rile him up and Aomine thought that maybe he could have some fun with him.

“Who said anything about losing? I’ll win for sure next time.”

Aomine’s smirk widened at his words, even though he didn’t believe him. He tried his best to look disinterested when he replied, “I think that’s what you said the first time you lost miserably. Remember? Right before you lost even more miserably--”

“Listen, asshole, that second time didn’t count since I didn’t even get to play. Are you accepting my offer or not?”

Aomine wanted to laugh. Here was a guy who’d lost to him twice in a row and walked straight up to him like he didn’t owe him shit, like it had been Aomine who had lost the last time they’d played ball. Who did this guy think he was anyway? He was amusing to say the least. Aomine would give him that.

The sound of hurried footsteps coming towards them had Aomine looking up to see Satsuki running towards him.

“Dai-chan! You’re going to be late! Where have you been this whole time! Geez! Hurry up there’s only three minutes left--”

“Shut up already, Satsuki,” Aomine drawled. “I’ll be right there, stop making everything such a big deal.”

She frowned at him and looked like she was going to curse him out, but Aomine’s ears were spared when she caught sight of Kagami.

“Kagami-kun?”

Kagami nodded. “Uh, Momoi, uh, -san, right?”

Aomine rolled his eyes. Really, this guy’s Japanese could use some serious work. He saw Satsuki looking back and forth between them and Aomine frowned at her, silently telling her to stop thinking about things he was sure only she could think of. She probably thought they were fighting or talking shit, even though that was partially true.

“Did I interrupt something?” she asked with a confused look. Aomine turned away from Kagami and started walking away in the direction that Satsuki had come from.

“Let’s go, Satsuki,” he said, ignoring her question.

“Wait a second!” Kagami called but Aomine didn’t stop walking. “ _Dai-chan,_ then.”

Aomine halted and looked over his shoulder to glare at the other guy. He turned around fully when he caught sight of his stupid, cocky smile.

“Can’t believe that worked,” Kagami laughed at him. “So are you going to show later or not?”

Wow Aomine had never hated anyone as much as the guy standing in front of him. And he was Tetsu’s friend? Kagami was insufferable.

“I’ll be there and you’ll be crying so hard you’ll never challenge me again.”

Kagami’s cocky smirk turned into a full on pompous grin and he laughed. “That’s the kind of shit I like to hear. You’re on, bastard. I won’t lose this time.”

Aomine turned away from him again without another word and walked back towards the court with Satsuki right beside him. She was quiet as they walked while Aomine felt that he’d just gotten pumped up for his match against Kise. He was sure he would win even though he wasn’t so sure about Kise’s feelings about playing him, but no matter the outcome at least there was still someone that was dumb enough to call him out.

He made it back to the court just in time and was relieved to see the determined look in Kise’s eyes. It reminded him of Kagami’s intense glare and almost unbearably annoying aura. Sure he was about to play Kise and he was going to go all out, but his mind kept going back to that dumb redhead with the weird eyebrows and huge mouth. Where did he even come from?

* * *

 Aomine Daiki  
Present Day  
Touou Academy Year 2

 

Aomine loved Golden Week. A whole week of doing absolutely nothing. He couldn’t wait.

A new school year meant that his attendance had started over with a clean slate, so he could go back to taking his absences and sleeping in as long as Satsuki didn’t find out. He felt fresh and new just like the spring season, so his second year started off with him feeling crisp and alive. Golden week wasn’t too far from the start of the new school year, so he didn’t even feel the need to take days off since he’d be getting a whole week off from school and basketball practice.

Since Valentine’s Day, like everyone else who played basketball around him, he’d been too busy with his team and last minute homework assignments that he hadn’t had much time to hang out with anyone except maybe Satsuki and Ryo. Aomine had been feeling restless since he hadn’t played ball with Kagami in almost a month.

He hadn’t seen Kagami in almost a month. They’d texted a bit, but texting Kagami felt distant and a little awkward. Aomine never knew what to say and he felt he always said the same things. He hadn’t had any dreams about him either, and it was all helping to pent up his frustration. But Golden Week meant that they’d both be free and he could play basketball with Kagami as much as he wanted. All he had to do was get through the days left until Golden Week. It was right around the corner.

* * *

Aomine hated Golden Week.

Once again he let Kise sucker him into doing something stupid so the day before his beloved Golden Week he was packing up a bag for a nearly week long trip. Kasamatsu’s family had a cabin about a four-hour drive out of Tokyo and somehow Kise had also suckered him into letting him host annoying-Kise and all of his friends.

Aomine couldn’t even remember what the blond had said to him for Aomine to agree to such a disastrous ploy so quickly. The only thing that kept him packing was the fact that Kagami was going, too. It would be annoying to be stuck with everyone--and knowing Kise, he had a very good idea of who he’d be stuck with and he wanted to _cry_ \--but manageable since he’d still be able to play ball with Kagami.

Now that he thought about it he was pretty sure Kise had trapped him by telling him the cabin was out in the country with plenty of big bugs and country girls to see and basketball courts galore. Also, now that he thought about it, he realized how stupid that sounded.

Still, he wasn’t going to go unprepared so when they picked him up the next morning he left his house with a basketball tucked under his arm. Either he’d get to play with it or he’d chuck it at Kise’s head with all his might.

“Good morning, Aominecchi!” Kise greeted with a voice and a smile as if he were a breakfast commercial.

“Shut up,” Aomine grumbled in reply. “It’s too early for your shit.”

It was early. It was six in the morning. The sun had barely risen and Aomine was up earlier than he ever got up for school. Therefore he was pissed off. This trip wasn’t _fun_.

“But I just--” Kise started to whine.

“Kise, I agree with him,” Kasamatsu said from the driver’s seat and Aomine nodded at him before climbing into the car. It was a spacious SUV with plenty of room for their luggage and plenty of leg space.

The SUV was capable of seating eight people and nearly all of the passengers were already seated. All the way in the back were Seirin’s captain, coach and Takao. Midorima was sitting behind the driver’s seat and Aomine sat in the seat behind Kise. He didn’t say a word to anyone.

“Senpai wanted to invite Hyuuga and Aida-san since he said he’d be stuck with a bunch of my friends. Midorimacchi wouldn’t come without Takao, though I was only teasing him since I had invited Takao first and Kurokocchi and Momoicchi will meet us over there with Murasakibaracchi and Himuro--”

“We picking up Kagami?” Aomine interrupted Kise with a yawn.

“We’re on our way for him now, I just texted him,” Kise answered, looking at his phone. “Though he hasn’t answered me. I hope he’s not still sleeping.”

Knowing Kagami he was probably still sleeping, but Aomine didn’t say anything. He just settled himself against the window and tried not to yawn anymore. It didn’t take long to reach Kagami’s house and since he still hadn’t answered Kise’s texts or phone calls Aomine volunteered to get him personally.

He buzzed Kagami’s apartment and got an answer right away.

“Hey, I’ll be right down, sorry,” Kagami’s voice crackled through the intercom.

“It’s me, let me up,” Aomine said and the door buzzed for him to enter the building.

He bounded up the stairs and when he made it to Kagami’s floor he noticed that the door was ajar again. He let himself in and saw Kagami in the living room running about, looking like he was still trying to pack.

“Don’t tell me you’re just packing?”

Kagami jumped at the sound of Aomine’s voice and turned to look at him, but quickly turned back to his task.

“Yeah, I did laundry late last night and fell asleep. I’ll be done in a second.”

Aomine watched him continue to move about and smirked. “You just woke up, didn’t you?”

Kagami stuffed clothes into a duffle bag. “Yep.”

Aomine sniggered. “Well I packed last night. All by myself.”

Kagami looked up at that. “Yeah?” he sounded sarcastic when he said, “Would you like a sticker?”

He wanted a kiss. “I want food as a prize.”

At Aomine’s words Kagami seemed to remember something and he walked into the kitchen and came back with a banana. “It’s the last one. Eat it. It’s about to go bad and I don’t want to come back to something gross.”

“Seriously?” Aomine asked but took the banana.

Kagami nodded. “It’s your prize. You big baby.”

It had been about a month and a half since he’d seen him. How could he go a whole month and a half without seeing Kagami? He looked the same, maybe a little taller? More muscular? Was it just the stupid butterflies dancing across Aomine’s vision and deep into the pit of his stomach that were causing these delusions? Because holy fuck he’d missed Kagami.

Kagami went back to his fervent packing and Aomine peeled the banana and bit into it while he watched Kagami run back and forth.

“Hey, can you do me a favor and make sure everything is disconnected while I finish packing?” Kagami asked not looking up from his task.

Aomine walked around Kagami’s apartment checking all of the appliances and disconnecting the ones that were still plugged in. In Kagami’s bedroom he found his phone still connected to the charger so he brought both with him when he went back to Kagami. He was done packing by the time Aomine made it back to the living room. He thanked Aomine for the cellphone and charger and stuffed them in his bag before turning off the lights and stepping out into the hallway. Aomine followed him out and watched as he locked the door.

Kagami turned around and leaned in to take a bite out of Aomine’s banana and said with his mouthful, “‘Kay I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Aomine shoved the rest of the banana into his mouth ignoring the small flutters and wave of embarrassment as his mind screamed INDIRECT KISS, and tossed the peel at Kagami who barely caught it with a disgruntled sound. He was still chewing when he followed Kagami into the car and buckled himself in.

“Morning,” Kagami greeted, turning around to fist bump his captain and coach. “Thanks for waiting, Senpai,” he added to Kasamatsu.

“No problem,” Kasamatsu answered with a nod. “Okay, if we’re all set then we’ll be going now. We won’t be making any stops.”

Aomine and Kagami both slouched in their seats at the same time, both stretching their legs as much as they could and leaning their heads back against the seat. Kagami turned to look at Aomine and Aomine’s gut rolled. They looked at each other for a few seconds and Aomine took in the sleepy haze in Kagami’s eyes and worried that his face was starting to light up red. In an effort to hide his blush he leaned towards him and rested his forehead against Kagami’s shoulder.

“Oi, the fuck do I look like,” Kagami grumbled shaking his shoulder a little so that Aomine’s head shook with it.

“Forgot a pillow,” Aomine explained as if he were stating the obvious. “So just shut up for once in your life and stop moving.”

He could fall asleep like that.

And he did.

The next time he woke up was because Kagami had moved so that his head fell forward. He woke up pissed as hell, but calmed a little when he saw Kagami trying to wrestle the cactus Midorima had brought with him out of his arms.

“Asshole!” Kagami growled at Midorima. “You keep fucking stabbing me with this stupid shit I’m going to throw it out the window!”

“If you just kept your distance it wouldn’t be a problem,” Midorima sniffed haughtily. “Plus, the cactus happens to be your lucky item too, so I’m actually doing you a favor by letting it touch you--”

“Shove it up his ass instead,” Aomine suggested, his voice thick with sleep.

Midorima glared at Aomine and suddenly let go of the cactus so that Kagami’s hand flew back with the cactus in his hand and slapped Aomine in the face.

In the backseat Takao burst into laughter while Hyuuga and the tiny coach complained about annoying children. Kise had turned in his seat to snap pictures and Aomine was more pissed than when he woke up.

“OW!” Aomine cried. He could feel the prickles from the cactus stuck in his cheek. “You motherfuck--”

“That’s enough!” Kasamatsu yelled and pulled the car over. “Midorima, give me the cactus.”

“I refuse,” Midorima objected.

“Give it to him you freak of nature!” Hyuuga yelled too.

Aomine crawled over Kagami and wrestled with Midorima for the cactus. Kagami helped too and they managed to get it out of Midorima’s grip and Aomine threw it out his window.

Kasamatsu looked at them for a second and after making sure the problem was resolved he put the car in drive and took off again.

“I was told to prepare for something like this,” Midorima said and reached for his bag to pull out another slightly bigger cactus.

Everyone in the car groaned, except Takao and Kise who laughed, but Midorima didn’t even flinch.

“You want to die, don’t you?” Kagami growled in a deep voice, eyes glaring.

Aomine was on the same page as Kagami but didn’t argue with Midorima because he seriously needed help getting the stupid cactus pricks out of his face. “Fuck! Kagami stop bothering with that guy and help me with this!”

“I heard if you lick the prickles they’ll come out faster--”

“ _Shut up, Takao!”_

* * *

When they got to the cabin Murasakibara, Himuro, Tetsu and Satsuki were already there waiting outside of the car they came in.

The cabin was nice. It looked big, had two stories and the scenery was great to look at. There were plenty of trees surrounding the area and he could see small mountains in the close distance. There was a trail that led into the woods where Kasamatsu explained there was a clearing and a small lake. It was still a little cold to swim, cooler since they were near the mountains, but the weather was nice for a campfire and Aomine looked forward to that.

The air felt different than in the city. It was easier to breathe and everything smelled fresher and cleaner. It had been a while since Aomine had been out of Tokyo and even though the car ride had been a real pain in the ass he was glad he was there. There wasn’t a basketball court, but there was a hoop and nice patch of ground to play on.

Aomine was taking in the scenery, enjoying the vast amount of green he never got in the city and he didn’t notice that everyone walked inside except for Kagami. He was standing off to the side, taking pictures with his cellphone.

Aomine walked over to him and peeked at his phone. “Are you amazed, city boy?”

Kagami didn’t glance at him. “Yeah, I’ve never seen Japan like this. I’m sending a picture to Dad and calling him an asshole for depriving me.”

Aomine grinned and made a mental note to somehow get Kagami to take a hike with him at some point.

Inside the cabin everyone was deciding who would sleep where and everyone besides Kasamatsu and Kise would have to draw straws to see who would get what room to sleep in. There were four bedrooms and as Kasamatsu described it, one sad excuse of a bedroom that was more like a broom closet with a bed, and someone would have to sleep in the work study room.

“Since this is a couple’s retreat I think it’s easy to decide who shares with whom,” Satsuki said looking up at Tetsu with big, excited eyes.

“What?” Aomine and Kagami said at the same time. No one had mentioned that part to him. He thought it was just a Golden Week getaway not a damn couple’s retreat! He’d have to share a bed with Kagami?

“Don’t act like you didn’t know,” Hyuuga mentioned as he picked first from the group of straws. “The green one, which room is that one Kasamatsu?”

Seirin’s coach and captain were going to stay in the work study room/office. Murasakibara and Himuro pulled a straw for a guest bedroom and Satsuki and Tetsu got the other guest bedroom. Everyone made their way to the rooms they were assigned to and the only ones left in the room were Kasamatsu, Kise, Midorima, Takao, and Aomine and Kagami. The air grew tense, as if there were about to be a showdown and Aomine watched as Kagami and Midorima stood still, glaring at each other.

“Alright already,” Kasamatsu sighed in annoyance. “Don’t act like it’s such a big deal just pick the straw already.”

“But it is a big deal,” Kagami reasoned. “If there’s only the sad excuse for a bedroom and the secondary bedroom left it makes more sense for Aomine and I to get the secondary bedroom.”

Aomine almost did a double take at Kagami’s words, but he was glad Kagami was trying to fight for the bigger space.

“How does it make sense? It’s only fair if we pull the straw,” Midorima looked down at Kagami. Fuckin’ Midorima. He only said shit like that because he always won in the fortune department.

“Dumbass,” Kagami taunted like a child. “It’s because Takao is smaller and you’ll have more room on the smaller bed! Aomine and I wouldn’t fit on a--what size bed is it?”

Kagami looked at Kasamatsu who sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know how anyone puts up with any of you. Why don’t you get all the facts before you start making demands? But it’s a queen size in the bedroom and a twin size in the broom closet.”

“See!” Kagami pointed at Midorima. “How are Aomine and I supposed to fit on a twin bed in a broom closet!”

“Figure it out yourself,” Midorima said. “I don’t care about your ridiculous demands and I won’t let you hold the cactus when you pick your straw--”

“I don’t give a shit about the cactus!” Kagami argued but picked the straw anyway.

“Alright,” Kasamatsu said picking up the straws to put away. “You and Aomine got the broom closet--”

“Bullshit!” Aomine and Kagami called at the same time.

“Midorima switch with us!” Kagami pointed at him.

“The outcome doesn’t surprise me,” Midorima replied smugly and turned away from them as he headed towards the secondary bedroom. Takao followed him with a wave and a cheeky smile.

Everyone left the room except for Aomine, Kagami and Kise.

“Pfft,” Kise started laughing and Kagami and Aomine glared. “Sorry guys--”

“Shut up, Kise!” they both yelled. Aomine became more and more annoyed as he heard Kise still laughing as he walked away after Kasamatsu.

Aomine and Kagami were left alone and Aomine was feeling a little awkward and embarrassed. Damn, he really had to share a bed with Kagami?

He was kind of...excited.

“Well, let's at least go look at it,” Kagami sounded defeated.

Aomine followed Kagami and when they found the room (with Kasamatsu’s help) Aomine groaned. Broom closet was a perfect description. Well, it was bigger than a broom closet but only slightly. There was hardly anything in the room besides the twin size bed, and Aomine speculated that was because nothing else would fit. The room had a small window above the bed that looked out to the trees behind the cabin and that was probably the only good part.

Aomine dropped his bag and threw himself onto the bed. It was comfortable at least. He closed his eyes and heard Kagami shuffle some things around.

“There’s a shower,” Kagami said and Aomine opened his eyes to see him open a sliding door. “I mean it’s super tiny but…” he turned it on. “Yep! It works. There’s no toilet though, so does this count as a bathroom?”

“We could probably still piss in there,” Aomine shrugged from where he still lay on the bed.

Kagami snapped his head to look at him with disgust. “No. No we can’t.”

“Why not? We both have dicks, right? All we have to do is aim down the drain so--”

“Aomine,” Kagami looked grossed out and offended. “Do _not_ pee in the shower.”

Aomine laughed. “I’m kidding. But we’re not letting anyone else use the shower, right? Especially Midorima.”

Kagami nodded. “Especially Midorima.”

They were silent as Kagami continued to inspect the tiny room. There was no light switch either, only a short floor lamp in the corner that could be easily reached from the bed.

“It’s...cozy,” Kagami said once he’d done his investigating. The whole thing had taken like two minutes, less probably.

“It sucks,” Aomine amended.

“Want to one-on-one to see who sleeps on the floor?” Kagami asked looking at Aomine and Aomine felt as if his hopes and dreams were crushed.

Of course Kagami wouldn’t want to share such a tiny bed with him. Hell, if it were anyone else Aomine wouldn’t want to either. Still, he sighed and sat up, looking at Kagami with a challenging look.

“You’re on. Ready to lose?”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Kagami answered back with a cocky grin.

* * *

Night had fallen and Kasamatsu had gotten the campfire going. Everyone sat around it with warm drinks in their hands and sweaters on to help shield themselves from the chilly night.

“We should tell ghost stories,” Takao suggested with a glint in his eye.

Beside him, Aomine could feel Kagami tense up and Aomine turned to look at him. Kagami looked at him but quickly looked away and Aomine wanted to laugh at him.

“I have a good one,” Tetsu spoke up from across Aomine.

Everyone settled in and prepared to listen to Tetsu’s ghost tale.

“This is a true story,” he began in a chilling voice that set the mood. “I actually have firsthand experience with this, so you can believe me when I say that what I’m about to tell you is very, very real.”

The wind rustled through the trees, enhancing the spooky mood Tetsu had created and Aomine found himself shivering. He sunk a little lower into his seat and pulled his sweater up a little higher as he listened to the tale.

“This is the story of a spiritual manifestation that goes by the name of Babababa Bababa--”

Aomine interrupted with a short laugh, he couldn’t help it. “Tetsu that’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard!”

Others snickered as well and Tetsu turned to look at him with serious eyes. “Perhaps you won’t feel the same by the end of the tale.”

Aomine settled himself in again and stayed quiet as Tetsu went on. Tetsu’s voice set the mood again and by the time he continued with the story everyone was paying attention.

“A long time ago here in Japan there lived a very happy family that consisted of a husband and a wife. They were happily married and lived very happy lives. They were good people and they never took things for granted and they always helped those who were in need. They were humble people, able to find happiness in each other and never cared much for any of the world’s riches. Everyone around them loved them and respected them; they lived in a time of peace.

“But as it often happens to good people, misfortune comes knocking on the doors of the innocent and this couple was no exception. They were young, in their twenties, perhaps, and they thought it time to really settle down and expand their little family. They wanted a baby. Whether it was medical reasons or some other phenomenon, however, they were told that they would never be able to have children. They tried and tried with love in their hearts and prayers in their hopes, but it never came to be.

“However, one day the wife found out she was pregnant. The couple was ecstatic. Finally, their little family would include one more person. They were very happy and very relieved, and all of the townspeople who lived with them supported their happiness, for they were good people and they deserved many great things.

“Now, because of the previous failed pregnancies the happy couple had to be very careful, and they constantly worried about the wife’s health. The husband would grow sick with worry, he loved his wife and he desperately wanted her to remain happy. And she did. For a long time the wife was very happy, even when the pregnancy threatened her life she was happy. She believed in her child and she believed in her love.

“The town that they lived in helped as much as they could. The husband would go and work and the ladies of the town would take turns visiting with the wife, to make sure she was comfortable and safe. The doctor wasn’t too far and aware of their situation, he was prepared to come running. The days went on like this, with the husband going off to work in the morning and coming back home in the evening. They were very happy and very hopeful. What could go wrong?”

The group was silent. Everyone was enthralled by Tetsu’s tale and no one was laughing since they knew the story was about to take the turn for the scary part.

“One day, the husband didn’t return from work. The wife worried and worried, and the townspeople set up a search party but he was never found. Days went by and there was still no sign of the husband, not even a trace. Eventually the people of the town began to gossip. Surely the husband had left her, why else would there be no trace? The wife refused to believe that he’d left her. They were a happy couple, he wouldn’t leave.”

On Kagami’s other side Kise suddenly stood up with a loud, dramatic gasp, hands waving wildly in front of his face as he spluttered. Kagami startled and scooted closer to Aomine, looking at Kise with mild panic in his eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Aomine asked, trying to pretend that he hadn’t been startled too.

“Sorry, there was a bug,” Kise said and sat back down as if he hadn’t just scared the living shit out of half of the people in the circle. “Please continue, Kurokocchi!”

Tetsu went on as if he hadn’t been interrupted and even though Aomine tried to give him his full attention he couldn’t help but notice that Kagami hadn’t moved back to his original spot. If he scooted just a bit more their thighs would be touching.

“Eventually the wife’s happiness and hope turned into despair and fear. She began to doubt her husband and began to believe that he’d left her. Her good health began to decline and once more she and her unborn child were in danger. The townspeople began to pity her and slowly the happy wife began losing her mind. She cried for days and days, each time her crying sounding louder and more painful than before. The townspeople felt bad, but they didn’t know how to help. One day the wife grew tired of crying. She left her house and went in search of her husband herself. What she found would change her life and the lives of everybody in the whole world.”

The wind rustled through the trees again and the only sounds were the leaves shifting and the soft howls of the wind around them. Aomine felt Kagami shiver and he fought his instinct to touch him. Tetsu’s story was about to reach its climax and Aomine was waiting for the actual ghost part.

“Near the end of the village the wife found a strange creature,” Tetsu’s voice was hollow and the light from the campfire illuminated his face to make him look eerie as he went on with his story. He was perfect for telling ghost stories and it almost felt as if Tetsu were speaking from right next to Aomine instead of directly across.

“The creature appeared almost human, but doubled over and very close to the ground. It crawled towards her like a nightmare, one spindly leg over a shoulder, almost slithering toward her, muttering something she couldn’t quite understand.

 _‘Husssband,’_ it whispered. _‘You’re looking for your husssband.’_

“The wife was very afraid, but if this creature could indeed tell her where to find her husband she had to face it.

 _‘I’m looking for my husband,’_ the wife said to the creature sounding braver than she felt. The creature suddenly stayed very still and then opened it’s mouth to shriek in laughter. It was an ugly sound that sounded like a scream of agony, but what made it horrifying was the way it sounded as if it was delighted. The more agony it screamed the happier it sounded and the wife felt the shrieking resonating deep in her bones.

“Suddenly the thing stood up and it was tall--taller than you, Murasakibara-kun--and horrifying. It had six eyes and no nose and only two eyebrows--”

“Tetsu, is this actually supposed to scare us?” Aomine interrupted again. “Mentioning Murasakibara kind of killed the mood you know--”

“Shut up, Dai-chan! It was super scary until you started speaking--”

“Can Kuroko just get on with it! This story is already going on forever!” Tetsu’s captain shouted, interrupting the petty arguing. Once again everyone settled down and let Tetsu get back to the story.

“Anyway,” Tetsu cleared his throat. “The tall creature had long, tangled black hair that went way past its feet. It looked at the wife with all six of its eyes and said in a raspy voice, _‘Your husssband is dead.’_ It repeated that same sentence over and over. _‘Your husssband is dead. Your husssband is dead!’_

“The wife began to cry, but the creature grabbed her face with a hand that was more like a claw and it scratched her.

 _‘Your child is next,’_ it said. What the wife didn’t know was that the creature fed off despair, so the more the wife cried the stronger the thing became. _‘I can help,’_ it said to her and she was in so much pain that she agreed without a second thought. She agreed to let the creature save her unborn child in exchange for her happiness.

“But it was a trap. Months later when the baby was finally born everyone knew that something was wrong. It was a little girl, born with long black hair that made everyone who looked at it uneasy. The child was pale and weak and the doctor said that there was a big chance the child would not survive for very long. Everyone who saw the child was afraid, it was almost as if she were not human.

“She didn’t develop like a normal child, and when she started to crawl is when the wife realized she had made a grave mistake in trusting the creature. Her child crawled the same way she had seen the creature crawl, one leg over a shoulder, and like the creature it seemed like she slithered. The mother was afraid of her own child.

“The child couldn’t speak, and as it crawled it would utter something her mother could not understand.

_‘Bababa...ba...baba….bababa…’”_

Tetsu was imitating the voice and he sounded broken and raspy as he demonstrated the chilling sound. Aomine shivered as he thought about what the creature must have looked like.

“Eventually,” Tetsu said, “the child crawled under the bed and died there. And that’s where the story ends.”

Everyone was silent as they took in Tetsu’s story. It was chilling, but it didn’t leave Aomine feeling scared.

“That’s it, then?” Aomine asked a little disappointed. So Tetsu had just given them a history lesson?

Aomine turned to look at Kagami and saw him looking thoughtful. His shoulders were tense and he looked like he didn’t believe Tetsu was done with the story.

“Oh,” Tetsu added, as if he’d just remembered. “Yes, the child who later became known as Babababa Bababa--because that’s all it could say--began to haunt the people in the village. It chose its victims in a peculiar way, seemingly at random. It turned out, however, that it only came after those who thought about it. Rumor has it Babababa Bababa can appear under any bed if the person above it thinks of her. She’ll come out, crawling like the inhuman creature that she is and drag the person into her world and turn them into a creature with six eyes and two eyebrows. That’s probably what happened to the husband.”

He shrugged as if he’d just mentioned the weather and not the scariest part of the whole story. When no one said anything for a while Tetsu added, “It’s a true story by the way. My grandmother has seen Babababa--”

“I’m going to bed,” Kagami interrupted, standing up. “Good story, Kuroko but it made me sleepy. So goodnight. Aomine, come on. Let’s go.”

“Huh?” Aomine was surprised that Kagami had mentioned him at all. Aomine still wanted to stay up, but before he could say anything Kagami grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the cabin with him. “Kagami, what’s up?”

“Nothing,” Kagami shrugged. “We’re going to sleep. Also, since you lost against me in one-on-one I’ll be nice and let you sleep on the bed with me instead of the floor. But I get the wall side. Also, you have to wait until I’m asleep until you can sleep too and if I wake up and you’re on the bed I’ll kick your ass.”

Aomine stared at him, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. He was completely lost.

“What? Kagami...what?”

“Forget it. Just...go to sleep, okay?”

Suddenly all the gears shifted into place and Aomine smiled brightly at Kagami.

“You’re scared aren’t you?”

He could see Kagami tense up. “What? Don’t be stupid. Why would I be scared?”

Aomine wanted to laugh at him again. “Admit it. Don’t lie.”

“I’m not scared,” Kagami crossed his arms.

Aomine didn’t believe him in the slightest. “So you’re not worried that Babababa--”

Kagami suddenly rushed him and slapped a hand over Aomine’s mouth. “Shh! Don’t say its name, dumbass!”

Aomine finally couldn’t help it and he laughed with Kagami’s hand still pressed over his mouth. Kagami removed his hand and Aomine tried to control his laughter.

“Is that why you want me here? So you don’t have to be by yourself? That’s why you want the wall side? Kagami you’re so funny!”

Aomine laughed a little more when he saw Kagami’s face turn pink. He walked away to get ready for bed and Aomine did the same. When Aomine was ready, dressed in a clean pair of boxers and a shirt he noticed Kagami was dressed similar to him and slipping in between the sheets of their twin size bed. He turned to face the wall and Aomine turned off the lamp before crawling into bed and lying on his back.

The bed was small and there was no way to be without them touching. Aomine had no idea how they were going to sleep comfortably if they bumped into each other every time they tried to find a different sleeping position. Aomine turned onto his side so that his back faced Kagami’s back and tried to make that the position in which he would fall asleep. Behind him he felt Kagami shift and then still again.

Aomine couldn’t sleep. How was he supposed to sleep when he could feel Kagami’s warmth on his back? Kagami wasn’t moving and Aomine could hear his breath coming slow and deep; he was probably almost asleep if not asleep already. Aomine wanted to turn over to look at him but what if he was awake? He settled for closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to come to him.

He was finally dozing off when a strange sound startled him. It sounded like rustling or scratching and it sounded like it was very near by, maybe even in the room.

Aomine was feeling wide awake and a little panicked, but he wasn’t going to freak out. He’d probably imagined it and he was beginning to feel tired again since he didn’t hear it anymore. He closed his eyes again but opened them when he heard the sound again. It sounded like it was coming from under the bed.

Oh my god, it was because he made fun of Tetsu’s story.

The scratching sound came again and Aomine scooted back against Kagami who didn’t move. Aomine turned to look at him and noticed he was asleep with his back against the wall.

“Kagami,” he whispered. “Kagami wake up this is an emergency.”

Kagami mumbled something in his sleep but didn’t wake up. The sound came again and Aomine pulled the sheets over his head and pressed his back against Kagami as close as he could get.

Holy shit any minute that creature thing was going to come out from under the bed and snatch him and turn him into a freak of nature with six eyes and only two eyebrows.

The scratching noise sounded again, louder this time and Aomine squeaked, “I’m sorry!”

The scratching turned into scuttling and Aomine turned to shake Kagami.

“Kagami wake up, wake up!”

Kagami opened his eyes and frowned at him. “What?”

“Shh, listen!” Aomine whispered.

The scuttling sound came again and Kagami’s eyes widened. “What is that?”

“Don’t you hear it, dumbass?” Aomine whispered. “It’s coming from--”

“Do. Not,” Kagami whispered sternly. “Do NOT say it’s coming from--”

“Under the bed!” Aomine whispered and they both froze when the room suddenly fell eerily silent.

For a moment Aomine thought the sound wasn’t going to come anymore, but then there was the sound of light tapping.

“Kagami, give me the wall side.”

“Hah?” Kagami said in his normal tone. “No way in hell, bastard.”

Aomine was seriously freaked out and he wasn’t about to risk getting dragged into the underworld or wherever Babababa--

“Stop thinking about it!” Kagami yelled.

Aomine tried to crawl over Kagami to get behind him, but Kagami held him away from the wall.

“Kagami, seriously, I can’t sleep on the edge. That thing is going to come and--”

“Oh my god _stop_ talking about it!” Kagami cried. “And fuck off, Aomine you can’t have the wall side! If anyone should get taken it’s you since it’ll be all your fault if it shows up!”

Kagami was on his back and Aomine was trying to move him over. He put one leg over Kagami and attempted to push him away with his foot pushing against the wall, but Kagami was trying to shove Aomine off of him and back to the edge of the bed. They were nearly wrestling by that point and they were about evenly matched. Aomine couldn’t get Kagami to budge no matter how hard he tried and Kagami hadn’t been able to throw Aomine off of him.

The door suddenly opened, surprising them both and Aomine’s foot slipped from where he was trying to push off against the wall...and Aomine’s knee landed right in the middle of Kagami’s crotch.

Kagami’s back arched and he groaned in pain. When Aomine tried to get up his knee only dug into Kagami’s groin a little harder.

“Oh my god,” Kagami groaned. “Aomine you fucking bastard--”

“Oh,” a voice came from the door and the light coming from outside the room made it difficult for Aomine to tell who it was.

“Ah,” Aomine tried to explain to whoever was at the door. “It’s not what it looks like--”

He was interrupted when a sharp pain came from his neck near his shoulder and he turned his head to see Kagami had bitten him and was still biting him. He hissed, also in pain and brought his head down to Kagami’s in order to get him to ease off.

“You’re disgusting,” Midorima--that’s who was at the door, Aomine finally recognized the voice--said and slammed the door shut.

Slowly and cautiously Aomine lifted his leg and climbed off of Kagami. Kagami’s eyes were closed and his hand cupped his crotch.

“Oh you fucking suck,” Kagami hissed.

“I’m sorry,” Aomine said, really meaning it. “I didn’t mean to knee you in the nuts.”

“Fuck you, you still suck,” Kagami opened his eyes. “You seriously dug your knee into it! I thought I was going to die!”

“Yeah well, you bit me pretty hard so can we call it even?”

Kagami looked at him with a frown. “Of course I bit you, how else was I supposed to relay the pain I felt? No we’re not even, I get to kick you in the nuts too!”

“You’re dreaming!”

With all the commotion they forgot about fighting for the wall side of the bed and they stayed up for a while making sure to think about everything and anything that wasn’t scary.

* * *

When Aomine got up in the morning Kagami was laying on his stomach with his head shoved under a pillow. He didn’t even stir as Aomine left the bed and walked into the tiny shower where he also brushed his teeth. He’d left the door wide open, slightly hoping Kagami would wake up while he was in the middle of his shower and see him in all his glory. He’d even dropped the shampoo bottle, knowing the sound would echo and sound a lot worse than it was but Kagami didn’t move at all.

Once he’d dressed he went down to the kitchen where he saw Murasakibara, Himuro, Midorima and Kasamatsu. Himuro and Murasakibara were at the stove while Kasamatsu and Midorima sat at the table. Aomine helped himself to some coffee and tried to ignore the fact that Midorima was glaring at him. When he couldn’t pretend anymore he leaned against the counter and glared at Midorima right back.

“Do you always do this?” Himuro asked casually. “Stare at each other like that, I mean.”

“Only when he’s being an idiot,” Midorima answered, still glaring at Aomine. “So yes all the time.”

“Midorima,” Aomine began just as casually as Himuro, but also fake and a little extra dramatic. “What kind of person just opens the door of another person’s bedroom without even knocking?”

Midorima looked embarrassed. “We were going to warn you to make sure you had the window closed because there was a raccoon outside. Also, I did knock you were just too busy to hear it.”

Aomine was relieved to know that the scratching and scuttling wasn’t coming from under the bed. Good, he could concentrate on more important things this next night, like how small the bed was and close Kagami was going to be.

“No response doesn’t mean come in!” Aomine argued.

“You didn’t even have the decency to wait for all of us to be asleep,” Midorima pushed up his glasses. “You and him are the same type of barbarian.”

“We weren’t even doing anything,” Aomine muttered.

“I cannot believe you would try to lie to my face like that,” Midorima sounded like a parent. “I literally walked in on you.”

“I told you it wasn’t what it looked like--”

“But it looks like he bit you pretty hard, Mine-chin,” Murasakibara cut in, pointing to his own neck. Aomine brought out his phone and turned on the front facing camera to use it as a mirror. Kagami had left a bite mark on his neck.

Aomine didn’t have an explanation for that one so he just awkwardly sipped his coffee.

“Yeah listen,” Kasamatsu spoke up looking a little disturbed. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this, but you’re all doing laundry before we go back to Tokyo.”

Aomine left the kitchen and went back to the broom closet bedroom where he closed the door behind him. Kagami was awake and looking at his phone.

“Everyone thinks we had sex last night,” Aomine skipped over the morning greeting to get straight to the point.

Kagami frowned at him. “Have you been talking shit again?”

“No,” Aomine shook his head. “Midorima nearly walked in. Actually, he’s convinced he saw us fucking and I’m pretty sure he told everyone.”

“You didn’t correct him?” Kagami asked, still frowning.

Aomine shook his head again. “Didn’t believe me. Doesn’t help that you left this.” He turned his head to show Kagami the small but dark bite mark on his neck. “Besides, I’m not going to tell him that you and I were fighting over who gets to get taken by Baba--”

He stopped talking when Kagami started throwing things at him. “Stop! Thinking! About it!”

* * *

The second night in the cabin they all played another one of Tetsu’s stupid drinking games. This time it was Never Have I Ever, and the things they were coming up with were completely embarrassing and ridiculously unnecessary.

“Never have I ever called my boyfriend Daddy,” Kise said and then giggled stupidly as he took a drink. Aomine didn’t even want to see who else had also taken drinks from their cups.

Midorima was next and he looked straight at Aomine when he said, “Never have I ever failed a math test.”

Aomine showed him his middle fingers before taking a drink from his cup since he had failed a couple of math tests before. Kagami, Kise, and Tetsu had to take a drink too.

“Never have I ever had to wear glasses,” Aomine fought back childishly, also glaring at Midorima. That backfired on him, though when Seirin’s coach and captain looked at him with scary smiles that screamed punishment.

After some more back and forth between Aomine and Midorima they called off the game and decided to put on a movie instead. Everyone volunteered for him and Kagami to get snacks from the kitchen and they made their way there together.

Kagami entered first and Aomine followed right behind, about to tell Kagami that they seriously needed to do something about Midorima, but he didn’t get the chance. He didn’t notice that there was water on the floor and before he could grasp what was happening his foot slipped and he started falling toward Kagami. Aomine reached out to him and Kagami instinctively held his arms out, but he brought them up too late and Aomine fell right through his arms. He still tried to find purchase on some part of Kagami, though, and he did.

His fingers caught Kagami’s shorts and he pulled them to the ground with him as he fell.

“What--!” Kagami exclaimed as Aomine accidentally pantsed him.

Aomine didn’t want to land on his knees; a hard fall could injure him and he wasn’t taking any chances. The last place he wanted to be this next ball season was on the bench so he turned his fall into a bit of a dive and kicked his legs out behind him so that his face broke his fall on Kagami’s bare upper thigh.

Wait. Bare...upper...thigh…?

Aomine was on his knees and he pulled back and what he saw seriously shocked him.

“Kagami why aren’t you wearing underwear!” he was at eye level with Kagami’s dick, but he wasn’t looking at it. He was looking up at Kagami’s face and he was beginning to feel a bit embarrassed seeing his wide-eyed, surprised face.

Wait…Kagami’s dick was--

“Oh my god?” Aomine said, a bit in wonder as he finally saw Kagami’s private parts up close and personal. “Does it...does it get bigger or does it just, you know, stand up?”

Kagami choked on his breath and Aomine looked up at him to see him giving him an incredulous look. He was frowning. “Are you stupid? Do you not know how dicks work, asshole? Of course it gets bigger. Can you--”

He reached for his shorts but Aomine slapped his hands away. “No, wait, I want to keep looking at it. And don’t call me stupid, some dicks don’t grow they just stand up.”

Aomine should have probably felt awkward with his face so close to Kagami’s crotch, but he was too busy confirming all his ideas about Kagami’s dick size. He was big, bigger than Aomine, but he wasn’t sure by how much. It was a nice body part and Aomine wanted to compare it to his own.

“Yeah well mine does both--oh my god, Aomine do not whip your dick out right now!” Kagami scolded as if he could read Aomine’s thoughts. Aomine hadn’t shown any indication that he wanted to compare sizes but Kagami must have read the look on his face. “And get your face out of mine!”

Kagami used one hand to shove Aomine’s face away and the other to reach for his shorts and Aomine sat back on his heels so that he could stand up. Before he could get halfway to it, however, someone walked into the kitchen and Aomine turned his head to see who it was.

It was Midorima and he looked livid as Kagami hastily pulled up his shorts. He glared at them and huffed, “Disgusting idiots.”

“Wait!” Kagami interjected before Midorima could leave. “It’s not what it looks like, we weren’t doing something like that in the kitchen--”

“And you expect me to believe, what? That Aomine just,” he raised his hands in a gesture as if to demonstrate a magic trick, “fell onto your crotch? Your naked pelvic area?”

Kagami shot a glare at Aomine before he answered Midorima. “Yes, actually that’s exactly what--”

“I’ve had enough of you imbeciles. I’m never traveling with you again.” With that he turned to leave.

“Can you believe that guy?” Aomine turned to Kagami casually. “He’s acting as if we’d be upset if never came on a trip with us--” Kagami brought his hand down onto Aomine’s shoulder like a karate chop. “You bastard! What was that for?!”

“You!” Kagami karate chopped him again. “Are so embarrassing!”

Kagami tried to karate chop him a third time but Aomine slapped his hand away. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d just been wearing underwear! Why aren’t you wearing any!”

Kagami slapped Aomine’s hand in retaliation and Aomine shoved him away.

“I forgot to pack some,” Kagami answered and looked away from Aomine. “So I won’t be wearing any for the remainder of the trip. So _don’t_ fall onto my dick again!”

Aomine’s head suddenly filled with thoughts of Kagami going commando under every pair of pants or shorts he wore. It was the first time Aomine had felt a little excited about something like this, and he didn’t really know what to make of it. He didn’t really feel like pulling down Kagami’s pants, but he also didn’t think he’d be upset if somehow things escalated to that point.

“Kagami,” he said seriously, changing the subject meanwhile he got his thoughts all sorted out. “We have to get revenge on Midorima.”

Kagami’s frown turned into a look of confusion and Aomine started thinking of ways he could annoy Midorima because it sure looked like Kagami was willing to help.

* * *

He was wearing the stupid frilly wedding gown again, so he knew he was dreaming. Aomine was sitting on the edge of a grass covered cliff with Kagami right next to him. Kagami was in an identical wedding gown and even though Aomine knew they both looked ridiculous he understood this was a dream, so nothing felt out of place. Except maybe the hot air balloon in the sky in front of them, but that wasn’t the focus of his dream.

Kagami was looking at him, again as if he were the world’s most delicious cheeseburger but instead of freaking out this time Aomine was frozen with nerves. It had felt like a long time since he’d last dreamt of Kagami and he was excited to see which kind of dream this would be.

“Ahomine,” Kagami’s voice was deep and there was a sparkle in his eye that Aomine was still a little unfamiliar with.

“What?” his dream self asked somewhat stupidly. “Bakagami.”

One moment they were sitting with their legs hanging off the cliff and the next moment they were back in the broom closet bedroom they were sharing, still in their wedding gowns with Aomine hovering over Kagami on the bed like he belonged there.

“Hey,” dream Kagami whispered up at him with a smirk on his face. Aomine immediately kissed the smirk off his mouth and Kagami’s arms came around his back, pulling him closer.

It had only been in dreams but Aomine had missed this. He dropped all of his weight on Kagami and reveled in the way he felt his breath come out in a puff. Aomine pressed himself against Kagami as close as he could and kissed him like he’d never get another chance.

He jumped when he felt Kagami’s hands slip inside his pants, but relaxed against him quickly. It felt good, so good and Aomine couldn’t seem to get enough. He wanted to dream like this forever, he wanted to wake up and find that this was something that Kagami wanted too.

He felt himself slipping away from the scene, like something was pulling him back to the conscious world and he tried to hold on. He wasn’t ready to stop kissing Kagami and if the way Kagami was holding onto him meant anything then he didn’t want dream Aomine to disappear either. Aomine shut his eyes and tried to imagine that he was actually with Kagami like this in the real world, but in the end awake won against asleep and Aomine found himself staring up at the ceiling with Kagami fast asleep right next to him.

He was on the wall side the second night, having passed along the message to Kagami that the scratching, tapping, and scuttling sounds had been coming from a raccoon outside and not from The Thing That Must Not Be Spoken Of Or Thought Of that lived under the bed. They had still played basketball in order to decide who got the wall side and he was sure Kagami was just as scared to sleep on the edge of the bed, let alone the floor.

Aomine didn’t know what woke him up and he wanted to go back to sleep, but in his boxers there was a bit of a problem that didn’t seem to want to go away on its own. He glared at Kagami who was still sleeping peacefully and decided that he had to go to the bathroom to get rid of the inconvenience. Fuck Kagami and his stupid hot mouth even if it was only in a dream.

He shifted until he managed to get the blankets off of him and down to Kagami’s waist in order to crawl over him. He had one leg over Kagami when Kagami stirred and cracked his eyes open. Aomine froze halfway between crawling over him and stared down at him.

Kagami’s arm came up around Aomine’s neck and he slipped his fingers into Aomine’s hair and lifted a knee to sort of lock Aomine in place. Aomine was frozen in shock and his hard dick was pressing into Kagami’s thigh. Kagami was asleep, he had no idea what he was doing, but he hooked his leg over Aomine’s waist and rubbed his foot against Aomine’s ass. Aomine prayed that Kagami really was fast asleep so that he wouldn’t remember how wide Aomine’s eyes were.

Aomine’s breath stopped altogether and he stayed there for a few seconds before untangling himself from Kagami and getting out of bed completely. He had more material to work with in order help solve his “problem” and when he came back to bed Kagami’s eyes were closed and he was asleep. He coaxed him to the wall side and when Aomine lay back down he hung his arm off the side of the bed. He half hoped that if there really were something living under the bed it would come and take him back to the underworld or wherever it was it came from.

It couldn’t be as scary as Kagami remembering any of this in the morning.

* * *

Kagami walked into their room and closed the door behind him.

“Did you get the stuff?”

To answer Kagami Aomine held up what he’d taken from Satsuki’s belongings: a hair removing lotion and a wax kit. “I think these will work just fine.”

Kagami grinned at him. “Great. So we’re getting Midorima, should we get Takao too while we’re at it?”

Aomine shrugged and nodded. “Might as well. Two birds with one stone and all.”

Kagami laughed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done something stupid like this. I’m pretty excited.”

Aomine was getting excited, too. It was finally time to exact their revenge on Midorima. Aomine and Kagami waited until they were sure everyone in the cabin was asleep. There were no sounds at all. Not even their footsteps could be heard as they snuck their way into the room Midorima and Takao were sleeping in.

The plan was to remove their eyebrows.

They decided to use the hair removing lotion to wipe off both of Takao’s eyebrows and they were going to really stick a wax strip on only one of Midorima’s eyebrows since he would hate the asymmetry more than not having any eyebrows. The best part was that Midorima would have to take off the wax strip himself in the morning, therefore waxing off his own eyebrow.

They’d wanted to get Kise too but they didn’t want to risk waking Kasamatsu, so Midorima and Takao would have to do.

Kagami looked like he was going to burst out into laughter any second as he rubbed some of the hair remover on Takao’s eyebrows and Aomine tried not to laugh as he gently but firmly pressed the wax strip over Midorima’s right eyebrow. Aomine rubbed and rubbed for three minutes while Kagami waited for the lotion to settle in so he could gently wipe it off. Once Takao was eyebrow less they left the room quietly and hurried back to their own where they collapsed in a fit of laughter.

“I don’t know how I’m going to keep a straight face in the morning,” Kagami laughed.

Aomine laughed. “Midorima is going to automatically assume it was us. I’d say let’s go out in the morning, but I really want to be here when everyone else sees.”  

They laughed until they fell asleep and in the morning they were the first ones in the kitchen. Kagami was making breakfast for everyone and soon they all started to file into the kitchen.

Midorima and Takao were the last ones to arrive and Kagami kept his back to them, facing the stove. Aomine looked at them casually and almost lost his cool when everyone in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and openly stared at them.

Aomine couldn’t tell what kind of expression Takao was making since he didn’t have eyebrows and he almost burst out laughing, but he didn’t want to be the first to laugh. Midorima was pretending as if nothing were amiss even though there was a bright red patch of skin on his face where there used to be an eyebrow.

“Midorin,” Satsuki gasped. “What...what happened?”

Tetsu was the first one to start laughing and it was like he broke the seal because everyone howled in laughter. Kagami was almost doubled over and Aomine felt like he was going to start crying tears of laughter. Their prank was a success and Midorima looked pissed off.

“Aomine did you do this?” Midorima asked in a cold voice.

Aomine just laughed harder. “I’m sorry are you trying to be scary right now? I can’t take you seriously when you look like that.” He looked at Takao and laughed harder than before. “You guys match at least. Sort of.”

It was hilarious to see Midorima still try to act so proud even though he looked so stupid. He wasn’t the type to make accusations without any concrete proof (even though he followed those stupid horoscopes like his life depended on it) so he’d either launch an investigation or he’d just silently brood over the mysterious case of the missing eyebrows.

Kagami was still in a fit of laughter and Aomine had to take him outside. Seeing him laugh was making Aomine laugh too.

“Shh, stop laughing already,” Aomine said also laughing. “You’ll give us away.”

“I can’t,” Kagami gasped. “Their faces, oh my god!”

Just thinking about it had Aomine cracking up again and he knew that in order to keep his cool he’d have to avoid being anywhere near Midorima and Takao.

* * *

On their last day in the cabin Aomine had convinced Kagami to go exploring with him and together they’d caught and released a whole bunch of neat looking bugs. Aomine was reminiscing about his childhood and he was having fun explaining to Kagami about all the different types of critters and edible plants.

Kagami seemed genuinely curious and Aomine really enjoyed his chance to show off all he knew about nature. Granted, it wasn’t all that much but it was enough to impress Kagami and Aomine was good with just that. He and Kagami had been getting on really well this whole trip and even though they argued almost every waking second Kagami wasn’t pissing him off like how it was usual for him.

It wasn’t until night that he felt like he really wanted to kick Kagami’s ass, and it was because he’d taken the last can of soda. They were the only ones in the kitchen so Aomine didn’t hold back in his yelling.

“Kagami, I seriously had just called dibs on it you’re not allowed to drink it!”

To piss him off Kagami raised the can to his mouth and took a large swallow. “If you want it so bad let’s just share it.” He chugged some more from it.

“Fuck you, I don’t want to share it!” Aomine argued like a selfish child. “It’s mine I should have had the whole thing! Or don’t you know what the word dibs means?”

Kagami finished the entire drink in a couple more swallows and crushed the can with his hands just to piss off Aomine.

“That’s it you’re fucking dead,” Aomine growled and he went to grab the front of Kagami’s shirt.

He tangled his fingers in it but Kagami grabbed his hands and pulled them off of him. He tried to grab Aomine’s arms so that he could shove him away, but Aomine just pushed Kagami back until his back hit the refrigerator. He pressed him into it until Kagami was trapped and leaned his head back to give him a triumphant smirk.

Kagami wasn’t looking at his eyes, though. Aomine saw him looking at his lips and then quickly look up into his eyes, but it was too late to hide the fact that he had been watching Aomine’s mouth. Courage flooded through him like a fog in his brain and before he could overthink it or back down Aomine closed the small distance between him and Kagami and connected their mouths.

It was a quick and hard kiss and Aomine pulled back to see Kagami’s reaction. Kagami licked his lips and looked as if he wanted to kiss Aomine again so Aomine closed his eyes and leaned in again. Finally he was kissing Kagami after thinking and dreaming about it for so long. Kagami’s arms came over his shoulders and Aomine stepped closer to him, letting Kagami pull him tight against him so that Kagami was being pushed up against the fridge.

Aomine’s arms came up on either side of Kagami’s head and he pushed away again to see Kagami’s face. He was quiet and he looked at Aomine expectantly. When Aomine still didn’t move Kagami put his hand behind Aomine’s head and pulled him down for another kiss himself.

It was exactly what Aomine needed. He wanted to know that Kagami wanted to kiss him too, and that he wasn’t just going along with Aomine’s whims. It wasn’t a dream and they were both sober and Kagami tasted and felt better than Aomine could have ever imagined. He moved his hands to Kagami’s waist and tilted his head to deepen the kiss when Kise’s voice suddenly filled the kitchen.

“Oh wow.”

Aomine broke away from Kagami feeling a little embarrassed and looked up at Kise to see him giving them a knowing smirk.

“What Kise?” Aomine’s voice sounded a little hoarse and he cleared his throat.

“I can’t believe this is the first time I walk in on something like this. I was beginning to think Midorimacchi was exaggerating. Though, I’ve got to say I expected to walk in on this sort of thing a lot more than--”

When Kise said something he never stopped talking. In order to spare himself and Kagami Aomine stopped Kise mid sentence and left the kitchen, pulling Kagami along by the wrist. They walked into their room, closed the door behind them and laid on the bed side by side on their backs.

Aomine was feeling a little awkward. As good as it felt he still couldn’t get past the fact that he was kissing _Kagami_ but it helped to think that maybe Kagami still thought it was a bit weird. He wanted to do it, wanted to keep kissing him but what if Kagami hated it? It didn’t seem like he did but as right as it felt it also felt almost incomplete.

Kagami wasn’t moving or saying anything and Aomine wondered what kind of thoughts were racing through his mind. In the morning they would go back to Tokyo and they’d both be busy with school and basketball. Aomine didn’t know how often he’d be able to spend time with Kagami or if Kagami would even want to spend time with him at all. Come morning Kagami might want to forget any of his kisses with Aomine ever happened, and the memories of their kisses might become things he stored in his head along with his other dreams and fantasies.

Come morning Kagami might decide he didn’t want Aomine at all or vice versa. But for now...

Fuck it, Aomine thought and he turned onto his side, propped himself up on his elbow, and leaned down to kiss Kagami for what felt like the first time of many.  

 

 


	9. TKO

_Are we cool?_ Kagami’s text message came three days after they returned to Tokyo and distracted Aomine, but that was fine. Ever since he’d been back home (away from Kagami) his lips and tongue tingled and prickled every time he thought about him. It was like he could still feel Kagami’s warmth underneath his fingertips. Over the past three days he found himself trying hard to ignore the fluttering of his insides whenever he remembered how nice it had been to stay up most of the night with Kagami, kissing lazily until Kagami had fallen asleep with his head on Aomine’s chest.

Agh, his face felt hot. He was probably blushing again.

 _Yes we’re cool_ Aomine typed but didn’t hit send. He almost smiled at the fact that maybe Kagami was nervous that things were going to be awkward again. They weren’t in the same car for the ride back home and they hadn’t spoken since they got back. It didn’t feel like things were awkward this time, though. In fact, Aomine had a strong feeling that if they had been in the same car Kagami would have invited him over and Aomine would have accepted the invitation.

“I don’t know what to say!” he said out loud, startling Ryo. Aomine had almost forgotten that he’d invited him over to work on the homework assigned over Golden Week. Well, Ryo was going to work on it. Aomine was going to copy it.

“About what?” Ryo asked looking nervous.

Aomine gripped his phone tightly in his fist and pressed it up to his forehead. “Nothing. It’s Kagami.”

“Did you guys have a fight?” Ryo asked.

Aomine shook his head and deleted what he had typed out. Instead he sent _I’m cool. And you’re pretty hot._

He felt gross as soon as he sent it and he tossed his phone across the room. Ugh, he couldn’t believe he had just sent something so stupid to _Kagami_ of all people!

His phone chimed, a notification that he had a new text message and Aomine scrambled to get the phone, ignoring Ryo’s scared and confused expression.

_Are you flirting with me?_

_No_ , he sent back immediately and then sent another text right away because he forgot that Kagami was an idiot. _Yes._ Maybe he was an idiot too.

_Well you suck_

He did suck he already knew that. He had never flirted over text message before. He was embarrassed, but he was happy that Kagami was texting him back. He didn’t know how to reply, but he still needed to insult Kagami so he replied with a childish, _No YOU suck!_

Kagami replied quickly and Aomine gasped at what he’d sent back. He didn’t think Kagami was the type to text like this. He was surprised and at a loss for how to reply. He could feel his palms starting to sweat and he wanted to throw his phone across the room again.

“Ryo,” he groaned and threw his phone at him. “What does this mean?”

He had to ask Ryo for help. Kagami had sent a word of agreement followed by a _winking face._  

* * *

Aomine hadn’t felt like going to school the first day after Golden Week, but he was stocking up on attendance so he forced himself to get out of bed and sit through most of his classes. Halfway through the day he got so restless that he couldn’t sit still in his seat, and he excused himself during the middle of class and headed towards the nurse’s office. He planned to fake a stomachache and sleep the rest of the afternoon.

He was nearing the nurse’s office and when he rounded a corner he saw Kagami’s not-girlfriend with her arms around another guy that he recognized from around the school campus.

Aomine ducked back around the corner and tried not to make it obvious that he was peeking. He wasn’t normally one to eavesdrop, but this sort of involved Kagami so he didn’t feel bad. He crouched low to the ground so that they wouldn’t see him should they look in his direction. He felt ridiculous as he watched them intently, almost feeling perverted while they stood there making out. But this was good news right? If she was with this new guy then she wasn’t going to need Kagami’s...services anymore.

That thought seriously pissed him off. Who did Kagami think he was, doing stuff like that just for fun? And why did it have to be a girl from Touou anyway? He was riling himself up with his sulking that he almost missed the conversation happening before him.

“Come over tonight?” Aomine heard the guy ask Kagami’s friend.

“I can’t tonight,” she replied, moving her arms away from around the guy’s neck. “I have other plans.”

Aomine was about to stand up to walk away when the sound of Kagami’s name had him crouching down again.

“You’re not going to see that Kagami again are you? I thought you were done with him.”

Aomine watched as the girl detached herself completely and pushed the guy away.

“Are we seriously doing this again? I told you I was done seeing him. It’s been like six months since the last time.”

Aomine felt he walked into something juicy. This was definitely Satsuki’s cup of tea, and he almost felt like running to get her so she could listen in with him. Obviously there were a number of things wrong with that idea.

“I’m sorry,” the guy apologized, sounding sincere. “It’s just...you’ve been distant. I want to fix it, that’s all.”

“There’s nothing to fix,” Kagami’s friend said and leaned in to kiss the guy again. “I love you.”

So this girl was a snake. Aomine didn’t feel bad about interrupting anymore and he walked into the hallway where they were, clearing his throat loudly. He wasn’t expecting a reaction, but he did get one. Kagami’s girl looked surprised and she hastily excused herself, walking away quickly without a second glance. The guy stared after her with a dumbfounded expression on his face and Aomine almost felt bad for the guy.

Aomine didn’t say anything as the guy ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Aomine hated feeling bad for people but his melancholy sigh was such an obvious cry for attention Aomine felt even worse ignoring it.

This was none of his business anyway, but he wanted to know what Kagami had gotten himself involved in. Did Kagami know about this guy? If so Aomine would be furious. He didn’t deal with cheaters so if Kagami was in on embarrassing this poor bastard Aomine was seriously going to kick his ass.

That didn’t feel like Kagami, though. Instead it felt more like Kagami was getting played too.

Boyfriend-kun was about the same height and build as Ryo and he was even making the same kind of stupid, pouty expression. Great, now Aomine really did feel bad for him.

Aomine wasn’t so good at reading people off the basketball court but Satsuki had taught him a thing or two. Well, it was more like a thing and a half but it was finally time to put his knowledge to the test.

“Kagami is a friend of mine,” Aomine stated, feeling a little dumb just blurting that out without warning.

Boyfriend-kun jumped at the sound of Aomine’s voice. He turned to face Aomine and tensed up, and Aomine realized that he knew all about Kagami and their shared girlfriend or whatever.

“Oh,” the boyfriend said dumbly. “I didn’t know she was still seeing him.”

It was an obvious lie and Aomine felt sick on Boyfriend-kun’s behalf but it only made him want to tell him about Kagami and his girl even more. If this was like ripping off a bandaid, well, Aomine had always been good at that.

But it wasn’t any of his business. Why did he care? Because Kagami was involved? Oh my god, was he caring for _Kagami?_ He had to leave. He had to stop this at once.

“I don’t think he knows about you,” Aomine said to him.

Kagami probably wouldn’t be happy about finding out about this guy and that pissed him off again.

“I’m going to tell Kagami about you tonight,” Aomine said and to his surprise the guy looked scared. He was probably afraid of him, but Aomine wasn’t going to say anything to change that. Kagami wouldn’t come attack this guy or anything. If anything Kagami would probably feel really guilty and make a trip down here just to apologize.

Fuck if Aomine would ever let that happen. This guy didn’t deserve that. He was just as shady as the girl.

Aomine didn’t have anything else to say and Boyfriend-kun was hardly responding so he started walking towards his destination. He was about to round another corner when he saw the guy still standing there, looking like a kicked puppy.

Aomine sighed. “You deserve better, you know.” So did Kagami. “Dump her ass already.”

Aomine turned around again and he was going to pretend he imagined it, but he was sure that Boyfriend-kun’s expression had changed from a pathetic one to a determined one. Aomine walked into the nurse’s office wondering how he would bring this up to Kagami and wondering how his dumbass fiery redhead would take it. 

* * *

Aomine’s last class ended and he was in a hurry. He rushed to pack his things so that he wouldn’t miss his train. Once he had gathered all of his belongings he threw a hasty wave at Ryo followed by a quick, “See you tomorrow!” and he was out the door before anyone could try to stop him.

He was all clear and almost out the front door of the school when he ran right into Wakamatsu’s shoulder.

“Aomine,” Wakamatsu didn’t even sound surprised, just pissed off like always. He was holding a stack of papers and had some practice jerseys slung over his shoulders. “Help me take these to the gym--”

“I can’t today,” Aomine explained in a flat voice. “I have somewhere to be--”

Wakamatsu held up a hand and made stuttering sounds until Aomine stopped talking.

“Listen,” he said in a stern voice that irked Aomine down into his core. “I don’t care what excuses you have for me, you’re going to practice whether--”

Aomine interrupted Wakamatsu with a scoff. “I sent you a text! You should know already if you read it!”

“I didn’t read it,” Wakamatsu replied. “I don’t read anything you send me just like you don’t listen to anything I say.”

Aomine wanted to yell but that would take too much time so he quickly said, “I have a job interview. So I’m not going to practice.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Wakamatsu mocked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Great excuse Aomine. Job interview do you think I’m stup--wait.”

Aomine glared at Wakamatsu, really needing to be on his way.

“Holy--Aomine, did you say _job interview_?”

Aomine rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so?”

Wakamatsu stared at him and squinted his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe Aomine was real. “Like, a real job interview?”

“No,” Aomine mocked back with just as much sarcasm. “A fake job interview. For a fake job. Where I’ll be making fake money. Dumbass, of course it’s a--”

Wakamatsu slapped Aomine in the face with a bunch of the papers he had in his hand. It didn’t hurt but Aomine was furious.

“Hm,” Wakamatsu mused casually, completely ignoring Aomine’s menacing aura. “Maybe Kagami is actually a good influence, then. And here I thought you’d both be twice as stupid together but I guess two negatives do make a positive--”

Aomine shoved Wakamatsu’s face away, feeling angry and embarrassed as he stalked away toward the train station.

He wasn’t fucking doing this for _Kagami!_  

* * *

He was totally doing this for Kagami.

He’d made it to the train just in time and was heading in the direction of Kagami’s house. The last time he had been in the area he had seen that the small grocery store that he often passed to get to Kagami’s place was hiring, and he had given them a call to inquire about the open position.

He could do with earning his own money, but the reason he chose that place was because he’d be close to Kagami. Close enough to pop in after work. Close enough that it’d be late when he got off work, thus opening up a perfect excuse for him to spend the night sometimes.

He was feeling giddy because he planned to drop by Kagami’s after the interview. He hoped to pick up where they left off and just as he was imagining how great it would be to get to second base with Kagami his gaze caught on someone he really wished wasn’t on the same train as him.

It was that girl again. His mind reeled, trying to come up with other reasons why she was currently on the same train as him heading towards Kagami’s house. He remembered her saying she had plans for the evening and his mind immediately went to Kagami.

Kagami and her together in his bed while he was sitting in for his interview like a good, proper citizen.

No way, no way. Had Aomine seriously worked Kagami up so much that he had to call over this girl for some sex? No way!

He wasn’t going to panic. He wasn’t even going to think about it. She probably had other business in the area and he was working himself up for nothing. She probably wasn’t even going to get off at the same stop as him.

He was trying not to think about it anymore, not even when he was one stop away from where he’d be getting off. But he couldn’t help it. He looked around to confirm his suspicions and he saw that she was also getting off the train.

Oh my god!

He checked the time and noticed that he was about an hour early for his interview. Satsuki had told him it was always good to arrive early and was he glad he listened to her. Now he had time to secretly follow this girl to see if she really was going to Kagami’s place.

He waited until she was off the train and walking toward the terminal exit so that he could walk behind her. He felt a bit like a creep but he just wanted to know where she was going. She was walking the same way as him, towards the grocery store where he hoped he’d get employed, but more importantly she was walking towards Kagami’s place.

He walked behind her the whole way and he was almost approaching the grocery store. He was still early and he was planning to walk right past it, just to see where she was going. Because if she turned left at the corner then without a doubt she was going to Kagami’s place and Aomine was going to make damn well sure he cockblocked.

A few more steps and the defining corner was fast approaching and the girl was still heading toward it. He watched with his breath held and just as he was about to take another step a door suddenly opened right before him and he walked right into it, slamming face first against the glass.

“Ow!” he cried, stepping back and holding his face. His nose stung like hell and his eyes were brimming with tears-- _reflex tears_ \--but he still managed to look up in time to see the girl turn left at the corner, now without a doubt going to Kagami’s place.

“Aomine you’re early,” a very familiar voice said and Aomine looked up, still holding his nose, to see his former captain looking at him expectantly.

“Early for what?” Aomine asked, removing his hand and wiggling his nose.

Imayoshi frowned and wiped away the smudge left behind by Aomine’s face. “Aren’t you here for an interview?”

Realization dawned on Aomine like walking face first into a glass door. “Wait,” he said hastily. “ _You’re_ going to interview me?”

Imayoshi opened his mouth but Aomine had other questions. “What happened to the granny I spoke to on the phone? I thought she was going to interview me.”

“The granny,” Imayoshi said with his fake pleasant smile, “is my elderly aunt. She owns the place and I’m renting the room above the store. I work here to help out. Also, I’m the manager.”

And Aomine was shit out of luck.

“You live here?” Aomine asked dumbly. “Why?”

Imayoshi checked his watch and beckoned Aomine inside the store. “It’s close to the school I go to. But you on the other hand...bit far from you, isn’t it?”

“Does that matter?”

Imayoshi smiled at him. “This is an interview, Aomine, answers like that won’t work in your favor.”

Aomine frowned but schooled his expression when Imayoshi turned around. “I’m in the area a lot.”

Well, he would be in the area a lot if all went according to plan. Now he just needed to quickly get through this interview so he could run down to Kagami’s.

“This is my office,” Imayoshi said leading Aomine into a room in the back corner of the store. “Have a seat.”

Aomine sat down in the chair across Imayoshi’s desk and he looked around while Imayoshi got his stuff together. The office was bare and professional looking. It gave away absolutely nothing about his personality, which in a way made a whole lot of sense.

“Do you have any prior work experience?” Imayoshi asked stacking his papers nicely and pulling out a pen.

“I’ve never worked in a store before, no,” Aomine answered. He wasn’t nervous about his interview. He was freaking out because Imayoshi probably knew better than to give him the job.

“Have you ever done anything for money?” Imayoshi asked smirking at Aomine from across the desk.

“Um,” Aomine began slowly. “I’ve done...landscaping? And I worked as a lifeguard one summer.”

What he meant was that he helped his elderly neighbors with hiring people to cut their grass or trim their bushes, and when he worked as a lifeguard he mostly slept by the pool until he got fired for sleeping by the pool.

“Oh,” Imayoshi sounded surprised. “I didn’t know you had any work experience.”

If this weren’t a job interview Aomine would have opened his mouth, probably to tell Imayoshi what else he didn’t know about Aomine but since this _was_ a job interview he sat quietly and waited for the next question.

“So, back to why you chose this store out of all the stores to choose from. Tell me why you would like to work in this store.”

Oh, Satsuki had helped him practice this one. He opened his mouth to spiel what Satsuki had made him learn, that he would be a great fit since he could tell that the granny was in need of help, and that he “admired small independent businesses, because he too aspired to own his own store one day” or something like that.

“Oh it’s because Kagami’s place is close by,” Imayoshi said out of nowhere, stealing his thunder.

“I, uh...what?” Aomine floundered.

“I just remembered,” Imayoshi went on casually. “Kagami lives like a block and a half away.”

“That’s how I knew this place was hiring,” Aomine explained. “Walked by the sign and decided to call.”

“Auntie did say something about a nice young man wanting to work here. You weren’t even the only one to inquire. She likes you for some reason.” Imayoshi went on.

“Nice lady,” Aomine said, hoping his face wasn’t twitching. Was this even an interview? It was his first interview ever but somehow he felt that Imayoshi wasn’t even taking him seriously. When was he going to ask about his strengths and stuff?

“Working in a store like this requires good customer service, you know,” Imayoshi took off his glasses to wipe them clean and he put them back on. “We’re small so we have to make sure our customers like us. How can you help with that?”

He had no idea. No fucking clue.

“I’m good with names,” Aomine tried. “I remember faces well so I can make them feel welcome all the time.” Not entirely true, but not entirely false.

“Good job,” Imayoshi patronized. Aomine wanted to raise both middle fingers but he felt like that’s exactly what Imayoshi wanted so he stayed still and quiet.

“What would you say your weakness is?”

Imayoshi, that bastard. He knew exactly what Aomine’s weaknesses were, having to put up with them and all his other bullshit when he was his captain. He thought about how much of a bother he was back then.

Aomine thought about his “weaknesses” and wondered how he could make them sound like strengths. His general attitude about life was “if it’s too troublesome I won’t do it,” and his procrastination level was literally “I can push it back another hour (x7).” He literally always found the shortcut to success.

“My weakness,” Aomine stated confidently, “is literally that I have no weakness.”

Imayoshi stared at him blankly for a few seconds and not really knowing how else to proceed, Aomine just gave him a toothy smirk.

“Aomine this is your first interview, right?” Imayoshi smiled at him and Aomine got shivers.

“Yes,” he answered still confident.

“That’s okay,” Imayoshi said. “For future reference, though, that’s not how you answer that question. Actually, you _didn’t_ answer that question.”

“Well how else am I supposed to? I’m--” Aomine tried to argue but Imayoshi cut him off politely.

“And now you’re going to tell me how awesome you are,” Imayoshi sighed. “It’s okay, we’ll practice that later. For now I have some other questions I’d like you to answer.”

Aomine wondered how many questions that meant, but tried to look patient. He couldn’t fool Imayoshi though and the fact that Aomine couldn’t read him was seriously starting to piss him off. Especially since Imayoshi knew everything about him.

“How long have you been pretending to date Kagami?”

Caught completely off guard, Aomine didn’t have time to guard his expression. His breath hitched and he could almost hear his blood rushing; his ears were throbbing and he felt like his heart was punching the inside of his chest. It was like he actually heard the small _pop!_ that opened the gates that flooded him with something that felt a lot like adrenaline. Imayoshi sat across from him with a knowing expression that he couldn’t avoid and he was all figured out and...shit. 

Shit!

“I,” Aomine didn’t know what to say. “Um, it’s not...we’re not--”

Imayoshi laughed softly. “Calm down, calm down! It’s a secret right? I’m good at keeping those.”

Aomine had to calm down and once he wrapped his head around the fact that Imayoshi knew what was up he felt like he could breathe again. Imayoshi was weird but he wasn’t an asshole. Okay, he _was_ an asshole but not a horrible one.

Aomine sat quietly, hoping this would all pass and that Imayoshi would get back to the real interview but now that bastard looked like he was having a great time.

“So, it _is_ fake, then.”

Oh my god!

Aomine sighed. “How did you guess?”

“You two haven’t acted any different,” Imayoshi answered. “Kagami comes in sometimes and when I ask about you he never knows what to say.”

So it was Kagami’s fault! Aomine was really looking forward to shoving his foot up that bastard’s ass.

“It’s not just him,” Imayoshi said as if he could tell what Aomine was thinking. It was Imayoshi. He probably _could_ tell what Aomine was thinking. “I thought that after you guys hooked up, you know, had sex, you’d be all over him. You seem the type to be clingy and possessive. And Kagami, well, he’s the relentless type isn’t he--”

“Oh my god,” Aomine turned his face to the side, hoping Imayoshi couldn’t tell he was uncomfortable. “Oh my god you’re so embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?” Imayoshi mused. “What do you mean? Sex is nothing to be embarrassed about, you know. Even if it is between two men and--wait.”

Imayoshi was quiet and Aomine didn’t want to look at him. He could practically _hear_ his smirk.

“Aomine, you’ve never had sex before have you?”

Oh my _god_ he was _done for_.

“What’s that have to do with anything?” he mumbled, still not turning to look at his former captain.

“Does Kagami know?” Imayoshi sounded so casual, like he was talking about the job opening and not Aomine’s embarrassing shenanigans.

Aomine finally turned his head. His cheeks felt hot but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from looking at Imayoshi defiantly.

“Does _anybody_ know?” Imayoshi prompted after Aomine only glared at him.

As subtly as he could, Aomine shook his head.

Imayoshi flat out grinned at him, that fucking asshole. “So no one knows that you’re a virgin, which is probably why you ended up fake dating Kagami--don’t look so shocked, honestly. Anyone with half a brain can tell; you’re both idiots. Yet, you’re still seeking employment from a place that’s three minutes away from Kagami...and you were distracted when you first arrived. Hm.”

Imayoshi was analyzing him and to Aomine’s despair his grin turned into an evil smirk. “You’ve been checking your phone for the time since you sat down, did you realize? That’s not good interview etiquette by the way. Aomine-san, could it be that you’ve actually fallen for Kagami?”

Aomine couldn’t even deny that. Imayoshi had him all figured out and Aomine couldn’t even be surprised.

Imayoshi raised his hands and folded them behind his head. He leaned back in his chair and smiled at Aomine as if he were a prized possession.

“Haaah,” he looked way too excited. “This just got very interesting!”

Imayoshi stood up. “Thank you for your time, Aomine. Usually I’d wait until tomorrow to call you, but I’ll just let you know now. You’re hired. Give me a few days to work out a schedule but as for now you’re all set. Come in on Saturday after practice, unless you have a game, then you can come after that.”

“That’s it?” Aomine could hardly believe it.

“Sure, I’ll walk you to the front.”

They made it to the front door and Imayoshi even stepped out to wave at him as he walked off. “Say hi to Kagami for me!”

Aomine was glad he got the job but somehow he felt as if he were hired solely for the entertainment of his new manager. 

* * *

When he got to Kagami’s Aomine held his finger on the buzzer and didn’t let up until Kagami buzzed him in.

He stomped up the stairs and when Kagami opened the door he marched right in and looked around, going straight to the bedroom and throwing open the door.

“What’s your problem!” Kagami called from behind him as he followed Aomine.

Kagami’s bed was perfectly made and his school bag and jacket were thrown on top of it, undisturbed from where they’d probably been dumped as soon as Kagami had come home.

“You didn’t go to practice today,” Aomine accused, making his way back into the living room with Kagami still behind him.

“Yeah, no shit since I’m here,” Kagami’s arms were folded across his bare chest.

Oh, he was shirtless. And in a pair of jeans. His hair was damp. So he was freshly showered. He probably smelled really good and--no! He wasn’t going to get distracted by Kagami! He looked around the living room for any sign that two people had been up to no good stuff.

“Aomine, what the hell are you looking for? And why didn’t you go to practice? You’re not skipping again are you? Because if you are and you end up getting injured or play a half assed game against me I’ll kick your--”

“Did that girl come over here again today?” Aomine cut in, barely even listening to what Kagami was saying.

Kagami’s face turned pink and he brought a hand behind his head. He looked to the side before answering. “Yeah. I called her over.”

Aomine was expecting that answer but he hadn’t prepared himself for it. Kagami probably didn’t even like Aomine, probably didn’t even think about him since the trip. Their flirting over text message was probably stupid and meaningless--

“I called her over to end things with her,” later, when Aomine wasn’t busy freaking out he’d remember that Kagami was speaking somewhat quickly. “And she needed to come grab some things she’d left behind.”

Kagami was watching Aomine so Aomine tried his best to look like he wasn’t relieved.

“That’s it?” It almost hurt to ask.

Kagami nodded and stepped up to him. “That’s it. She didn’t even come in.”

Kagami was close. Forget not getting distracted. All Aomine could think about was the heat coming off Kagami’s body and the way his eyes were looking at Aomine head to toe. He stepped even closer and Aomine forgot how to breathe.

“Well, good,” he said a little late.

Kagami was still moving in, herding Aomine backwards towards the couch. He felt the couch against the back of his legs and Kagami slightly shoved his chest so that Aomine fell into a sitting position. He barely had time to lean his head back to look up at Kagami when Kagami dropped down on top of him, straddling his lap and blocking his head between his arms as he held the back of the couch.

“Don’t tell me you were jealous,” Kagami murmured and Aomine hoped his eyes didn’t betray how surprised he was to hear that tone.

He’d never heard Kagami sound like that, so sultry, and seductive, like he could make Aomine do whatever he wanted so long as he kept talking to him and looking at him like that; like Aomine was someone who was so deserving of all of Kagami’s time and attention. Whether he deserved it or not didn’t matter much to Aomine at the moment but he craved both.

“You wish,” Aomine retorted. There was no way in hell he was going to let Kagami win this so easily. He was completely ignoring the fact that he’d barged into Kagami’s place unannounced and in frenzy. “You still didn’t tell me why you’re not at practice, you delinquent.”

Kagami leaned forward enough so that their noses brushed but pulled back and laughed.

“Delinquent. Hilarious. No practice today,” Kagami said smirking down at Aomine like he really thought he was hilarious. “We’re celebrating some of the senpai’s birthdays since we’ll be busy on the actual days. And you? _Delinquent_? Don’t tell me you came all the way just to check on me--”

Aomine put his hand over Kagami’s face and extended his arm, shoving Kagami’s face away. Kagami spluttered and tried to turn his head but Aomine just brought up his other hand to push Kagami’s face away with both hands.

“Don’t say stupid things!” Aomine scolded, pushing Kagami’s face away with more force.

Kagami used both hands to wrestle Aomine’s arms down and he turned to face Aomine with a ferocious glare. Aomine smirked back confidently.

“You bastard,” Kagami growled. Before Kagami could open his mouth again Aomine grabbed his cheeks with his forefingers and thumbs and pulled at them, stretching Kagami’s face this way and that. “I’ll kill you asshole--” Kagami tried to say but his face looked so hilarious that all threats went unnoticed and Aomine burst into laughter.

“Cute,” he laughed, still pulling at Kagami’s face.

Kagami turned his face and sucked Aomine’s finger into his mouth and bit hard. It wasn’t the first time Aomine had his fingers inside Kagami’s mouth, that asshole was a glutton and he bit him every chance he got, but it was the first time he was aware of how hot the inside of Kagami’s mouth was.

Kagami watched him as Aomine kept his finger in Kagami’s mouth and Aomine pushed it in a little more, not able to stop his gaze as Kagami’s lips closed around it. Aomine felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up when he felt Kagami’s hot tongue on the underside of his finger. His breath stalled when Kagami sucked on his finger and moved his head back until Aomine’s finger was almost no longer in his mouth at all. Kagami gave the tip of his finger a small nip before moving his head back down so that Aomine’s finger was enveloped by Kagami’s mouth once more.

Aomine knew exactly what that stood for and he wasn’t going to object to any of it. He pulled his finger out of Kagami’s mouth and grabbed his face with the same hand to pull Kagami’s face towards him.

“Come here,” Aomine could hardly talk but that didn’t even matter because no sooner had he touched the side of Kagami’s face when Kagami leaned forward to kiss him. He kissed him like he’d been expecting it since Aomine first walked through the door.

Kagami scooted up closer to Aomine and they kissed like it had been months since they’ve been waiting for it instead of just one week. Aomine brought his arms around Kagami’s back and Kagami brought himself even closer. Aomine licked Kagami’s bottom lip and pulled at it with his teeth until Kagami hissed and used his own tongue to push Aomine’s tongue back into his mouth.

And then Aomine felt like he was drowning.

Kagami pushed at him with his kisses until Aomine’s head was resting on the back of the couch and he came at him with kisses so deep that Aomine could hardly keep up. It was getting hard to breathe so he brought up his hands to push Kagami away but that only distracted him. Aomine ran his hands up and down Kagami’s chest and smirked against Kagami’s mouth when Kagami shivered.

“Shut up,” Kagami nearly whispered against Aomine’s mouth before continuing his kissing assault.

“Didn’t say anything,” Aomine said with a smirk between kisses. With Kagami coming at him like this it was hard to get a word in but Aomine wasn’t complaining. It was the best kissing he’d ever had.

“You’re thinking. So shut up,” Kagami’s voice was rough and heady; Aomine felt he could get drunk just from his kisses and his stupid, meaningless whispering.

Kagami slowed his kisses but every time he pressed his lips to Aomine’s he stayed longer before pulling back, only to come back in for another kiss. Kagami moved up in Aomine’s lap and scattered a few kisses on his face before finding his way back to Aomine’s mouth. Aomine held him as Kagami rocked himself back and forth against Aomine and--oh shit. Kagami was--oh my god Kagami was hard and pressing himself right up to Aomine and he was--

“I’m really hard,” Kagami whispered against him and Aomine’s breath stopped altogether.

Aomine had no idea how to respond. He had come over with intention to reach second base but not he felt overwhelmed and out of his league. He seriously thought about blurting out the truth about his sexual inexperience but that was way too embarrassing and Kagami looked so expectant and sexy and Aomine was so pissed off that he had actually just thought of Kagami as being sexy.

The sexiest thing he’d seen in a long time if he was being honest. Perhaps even sexier than his beloved Mai--

He was distracted when Kagami jolted like he’d been shocked and just as he was about to ask what the hell his problem was he heard a faint buzzing that sounded a lot like a cellphone.

Kagami dropped his forehead down to Aomine’s and closed his eyes.

“Mm,” Kagami hummed. “Feels really good.”

Aomine looked down and saw that because of the way he was sitting the phone in Kagami’s pocket was vibrating very close to the erection in Kagami’s jeans. With his eyes still closed Kagami reached up to undo the button of his jeans and Aomine almost freaked out. He saw Kagami reach for the waistline of his underwear and Aomine knew he had to intervene before he got caught in something he wasn’t ready to handle.

He laced his fingers with Kagami’s, effectively stopping him from whipping his dick out and distracted him by squeezing his fingers and leaning up to kiss him again.

“You should answer it,” Aomine said hoping whoever was calling wouldn’t give up until Kagami answered their call. Aomine kissed him again as Kagami scooted back in order to get the phone out of his pocket.

He pulled away from Aomine’s mouth when he had the phone in his hand and then looked back at Aomine with a confused frown. “Why are you calling me?”

“What?” Aomine was also confused. “That’s stupid, idiot. I’m right here.”

Kagami turned his phone so that Aomine could see the screen and he saw a close-up picture of his frowning face behind Kagami’s middle finger with the text “AHOMINE” over it. He frowned up at Kagami.

“Why is my contact info--?”

“Because fuck you that’s why,” Kagami said before Aomine could even ask the question and he answered the phone. “Hello?...Yeah he’s here.”

He looked at Aomine, still with a confused frown as he listened to the person on the other end. Aomine could hear a faint voice but he wasn’t sure who would be calling from his cellphone when he had his cellphone...not in his pocket.

Aomine patted himself down, even threw Kagami to the side of the couch and stood up to check the rest of his pockets. Where was his phone? The last time he had seen it was...Imayoshi’s office. So Imayoshi had his phone!

“What? Wait, I didn’t catch that,” Kagami said. “Aomine wants to do what to me--”

“Kagami!” Aomine jumped on Kagami and tried to take the phone out of his hands but Kagami just moved away. “Stop it!” Aomine raised his voice so that Imayoshi could hear too. “Imayoshi stop it!”

Kagami shoved Aomine’s face away, similar to how Aomine had done to him but Aomine reached for the phone, not letting anything stop him. Imayoshi would surely try to embarrass him and he couldn’t have him telling Kagami anything about _anything_. In his struggle Kagami fell onto his back on the couch, making it easier for Aomine to crawl over him and wrestle the phone from his hands.

“Imayoshi!” Aomine shouted into the phone.

“Aomine, I thought I might find you there. I’ll hold your phone for you. You can come get it on your way to the train.”

“Yeah…” Aomine didn’t even feel grateful. Imayoshi sounded like he was having a great time. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Imayoshi said casually. “So, did you tell him you’re a virgin yet--”

Aomine hung up and tossed Kagami’s phone to the side. He looked down at Kagami to see him looking up at him with a smirk.

“I hate that guy,” Aomine muttered as Kagami brought his hands up to Aomine’s sides under his shirt. Aomine leaned down to kiss Kagami again. “Almost as much as I hate you.”

Kagami laughed into their kiss and Aomine untangled himself before sitting up and back against the couch.

“Why does he have your phone?”

“Starting Saturday I’ll be working with him,” Aomine said hoping Kagami didn’t ask questions.

“Oh cool,” Kagami said and then his head snapped to look at him. “Wait, did you say work? As in a job? Like, a real job--”

“Shut up!” Aomine hissed. “Why does everyone say that? Yes, a real job--”

“Wow,” Kagami sounded amazed. “At that small grocery store? The one with the granny?”

Aomine ran a hand down his face, feeling tired of everyone’s shit. “Yes.”

“And you’ll be working? Like, _actually_ working? Like, for real money? Someone actually hired _you_ \--”

Aomine threw himself onto Kagami and slapped his hand over his mouth. Kagami immediately started laughing again. Pissed off, Aomine grabbed his cheeks again and pulled at them while Kagami grabbed his wrists and tried to pull him off, all the while still laughing like he thought Aomine actually working was the funniest thing in the world.

Aomine was enjoying himself, but it was time to stop fooling around. He sat up again and waited for Kagami to settle down before saying, “There’s something I want to tell you.”

Kagami sat up too and Aomine tried not to stare as he scratched at his chest. “What?”

“That girl of yours--”

“I told you already--”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aomine waved him off. “Let me finish, asshole. I ran into her at school today.”

Kagami raised an eyebrow and looked at him expectantly. “Okay?” Kagami prompted.

“I ran into her...and her boyfriend too.” Aomine waited to see how Kagami would react. He didn’t want Kagami to be upset about it, but he really hoped he didn’t know about the boyfriend.

Kagami looked confused and he didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Aomine was about to start talking again but Kagami finally spoke up.

“Boyfriend? A guy she’s dating exclusively?”

“Yeah,” Aomine nodded. “I heard them talking...and uh, I saw them, like, making out...and stuff. I think they’ve been together for a while, actually. She used the L word.”

Kagami was silent again and he looked like he was concentrating hard about something. Suddenly he brought his head down to his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. Worried, Aomine moved closer.

“Hey, it’s fine right?” he didn’t know if it was fine at all. “You ended it with her so--”

“Are you telling me that I cheated on some guy?!”

“What?” Aomine was confused. “No, Kagami, _she_ cheated on a guy. You didn’t know, right?”

Kagami shook his head. “That’s fucked up.” He was quiet again but Aomine thought he was taking it well. “Should I, you know, tell the guy or something?”

“Um,” Aomine started a little awkwardly. “No, he already knows.”

“What?” Kagami frowned. “He knew about me? Does she know that he knows? That’s dirty.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Aomine agreed. He was quiet as he watched Kagami. After more seconds of silence Aomine asked, “Did you...like her or anything?”

Kagami looked at him and shrugged. “She was cool. I mean, I guess I could have liked her but I didn’t really have feelings for her. She was fun, though.”

Aomine didn’t really want to ask, but he was dying to know. “Why’d you break up with her? Or _end things_ with her.”

Kagami frowned and tilted his head to the side. “Well, I sort of slowed things down a while ago...I thought if I fucked her too much she would start to really like me.”

Aomine was floored. He never expected that kind of answer from Kagami. Just how much of this guy’s personality did he not know about?

“Kagami,” Aomine said seriously. “Could it be that you’re actually an asshole?”

“Who are _you_ calling an asshole, _asshole!_ ” Kagami retorted with a frown.

“But,” Aomine was confused about everything. “The way you say that makes it sound like you were just playing her.”

“No way,” Kagami waved his hand. “I was clear about what I wanted and I thought I knew her a bit better.” Aomine watched as Kagami’s face turned pinker and pinker. “Actually...I’m more of a one partner at a time kind of guy...If I had known about her boyfriend or whatever I wouldn’t have fooled around with her.”

One partner at a time…? Had Kagami ended things with the girl because he was expecting to get it on with someone else? Even with the way Kagami was looking at him it still took Aomine several seconds to realize that this “one partner at a time” he was referring to was none other than him. He felt his face start to get warm too. He didn’t want to look at Kagami but he didn’t want to seem awkward, so he covered his mouth with his hand and leaned down to rest his elbow on his knee.

He looked up when Kagami laughed a little. “What’s with that expression?”

Aomine frowned up at him but didn’t get to say anything when Kagami moved closer to him. It was like he was on autopilot, so when Kagami leaned in to kiss him again Aomine met him halfway, like it was the most normal, mundane thing in the world.

The air felt heavy between them and Aomine worried for a second that Kagami was expecting something more from him. The look in his eyes confirmed his suspicions, but fortune was on his side and Kagami’s phone rang again. Aomine waited while Kagami looked for the phone behind the couch cushions where Aomine had tossed it.

“It’s Kuroko,” Kagami said and then put the phone up to his ear. “What’s up, Kuroko?”

Aomine sat back while he watched Kagami talk on the phone and get up to leave the living room. He came back wearing a shirt and Aomine watched him as he stuffed his phone in his pocket.

“I’m going to head out now,” Kagami said patting his pockets. “Do you want to come with?”

Aomine stood up. “No, I really don’t.”

Kagami shrugged as if he didn’t care either way and they both made their way out of the apartment and down toward the train station. When they neared the store Aomine noticed that Imayoshi was sitting outside as if he were waiting for them.

“There you are,” Imayoshi said standing up.

“Oh god,” Aomine said under his breath. “Kagami get the hell out of here.”

Kagami turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“You know Aomine,” Imayoshi began and Aomine groaned internally because that sounded like the beginning of a lecture. “You absolutely failed at interview etiquette, but you have some redeeming qualities--”

“Like what?” Kagami interrupted with a smirk.

“Shut up!” Aomine hissed at Kagami and to Imayoshi growled, “Don’t answer him!”

Aomine shoved Kagami and pushed at him until he was forced to start making his way to Seirin. Aomine wanted to walk the rest of the way with him but he decided it was better to be safe than sorry, and he was left looking at Imayoshi like he had shut down a party he was very much enjoying.

Imayoshi looked like he knew exactly how Aomine felt and stood there smirking at him for a solid minute before handing him his phone. Aomine took it and muttered a quick, “thanks,” before turning away and heading towards the train station.

“See you Saturday, Aomine!” Imayoshi called cheerfully.

Aomine didn’t even turn around and when he got to the train station he sat on a bench while he waited for the train that would take him home, the whole time wondering when the discomfort in his pants would subside. 

* * *

On Saturday after Touou had crushed Kaijou (Kise hadn’t played) Aomine made his way to his new job. He’d showered at the gym and made mental notes to keep some of his stuff at Kagami’s. He hadn’t _asked_ Kagami and he hadn’t planned on it, but he somehow knew he’d get away with it.

When he was about a block away his phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out to see Midorima’s name across the screen.

“Hello?” he picked up sounding a bit confused. Midorima never called him, he just showed up unannounced.

“Aomine,” Midorima said quickly and Aomine waited for him to continue but he didn’t.

“What?” he huffed. This guy was so fucking weird.

“What are you doing right now?” Midorima said back as if he wasn’t annoying the living shit out of Aomine.

“I’m on my way to work,” Aomine answered with a drawl.

The line went silent and Aomine was about to hang up when he heard Midorima say, “Cancel the order Takao, he’s busy,” before the line went dead.

What the actual fuck. Aomine didn’t have too much time to care about Midorima’s weirdness because just as he was about to open the door to his new workplace it slammed open and smacked him right in the face.

“Are you--what-- _ow!_ ” Aomine cried, _actually_ cried as he stumbled back and held his face.

Imayoshi stood in the entryway, looking suspiciously innocent. “Oh, Aomine, didn’t see you there.”

“It’s a glass door!” Aomine shouted, though the effect was lost since his words were muffled behind his hand. His face hurt too much to take his hand away, but he tried his best to glare with his eyes so that Imayoshi knew that Aomine was onto him. This was going to be a new thing, he could already feel it. And his nose fucking burned like hell.

“Sorry,” Imayoshi said not sounding sorry at all. “Okay, well now that you’re here to work we’ll go over the basics. You’re required to wear an apron and if it gets dirty you’ll have to wash it yourself.”

Aomine followed him into the store and to the back where Imayoshi threw an apron at him. Aomine let go of his face to catch it and put it on.

“You can just follow me around today,” Imayoshi continued. “That way you get a feel of the kind of work you’ll be doing. You won’t be on the register until you know more about how working works. For now you can do the heavy lifting.”

“How heavy?” Aomine asked, hoping the sadist Imayoshi wouldn’t try to overwork him.

“Nothing you can’t handle,” Imayoshi answered. “We’ll get you set up with all of your paperwork first, like the contract and your pay agreement and your schedule. By the way, Aomine, your nose is bleeding.”

Surprised that the wetness under his nose wasn’t snot, Aomine brought up his hand and pulled it away to see it bright red with his blood.

“Tell me that sooner!” he said wiping it on his apron. “Shit. Oh fuck, I look like I’ve killed someone.”

He continued to wipe the blood on his apron but stopped when Imayoshi sighed. “Aomine, please refrain from doing that. Also, you can’t swear around the customers. Your face is already scary as it is. Please try to smile.”

Aomine stared at Imayoshi blankly. “Where’s the bathroom?”

Imayoshi stared back with the same polite smile he always wore, though Aomine had gotten to know him well enough to know when he was annoyed. “Remind me why I hired you?”

“My charm,” Aomine said as his nose continued to drip blood.

“Yeah,” Imayoshi grimaced and pointed to the door to the bathroom. “Exactly right.”

Aomine shrugged, not really caring if Imayoshi regretted his decision. He still didn’t care when he was made to shadow Imayoshi throughout the rest of his shift. He did care, however, that Imayoshi kept bringing up Kagami every chance he got.

“So how long have you been together?” Imayoshi asked casually. “That has to be a question you get asked a lot, right?”

Aomine didn’t get asked any questions ever, so he didn’t really know how to answer. “Uh…”

“Okay,” Imayoshi said with fake sympathy. “How about an easier question. When is his birthday?”

“Uh…” Aomine said again. Damn, he didn’t know Kagami’s birthday. “He’s a Leo, right? So...August um, or July, right?”

Imayoshi didn’t look impressed. “Do you know anything about him at all?”

“His favorite color is black and he watches gay porn mostly,” Aomine answered quickly. He’d even go as far as saying he was proud of himself for knowing some Kagami Trivia.

“Useless information,” Imayoshi waved him off. “How do you expect to convince people you’ve been in a relationship if you don’t even know the basics?”

“Oh look, it’s time for my break,” Aomine diverted. Somehow Aomine felt like Imayoshi was training him for more than just this job. 

* * *

“You didn’t kill anyone right?” Kagami said to him as soon as he opened the door for Aomine. “Because I’m not going to let you drag me into whatever--”

Aomine took off his blood-smeared apron and held it away from himself. “Kagami, wash this for me.”

“Hah?!” Kagami exclaimed. “Oi, the fuck do I look like asshole?”

“I’ve never done laundry before in my life!” Aomine argued, not caring that he sounded dramatic. “I have absolutely no idea how to get blood or any other kind of stain out of clothes! And Imayoshi said that if I showed up tomorrow with it all bloody I’d get my pay reduced!”

Aomine was on a roll. “And I can’t bring it to my mother because she’ll think I’ve been fighting again! And Satsuki’s at Tetsu’s!” He pointed at Kagami. “So _you_ have to help me!”

Kagami blinked and then narrowed his at him. “So it is blood then? _Have_ you been fighting?”

“No,” Aomine sighed. “Imayoshi slapped me in the face with the door and I spewed blood all over the place.”

“Gross,” Kagami snickered. “I’m surprised he let you still wear the apron.”

Kagami took the apron from him and Aomine followed him toward the washing machine.

“I’m not surprised at all,” he said bitterly while he watched Kagami put the apron in the machine along with detergent. “He thrives off my misery.”

He watched as Kagami turned some of the knobs on the machine and he leaned against the doorframe while he watched Kagami work.

“You should learn how to do this yourself,” Kagami said glancing at him. 

“One day,” Aomine answered with a shrug.

“No, like, today,” Kagami said. “You’re really annoying.”

“Oh,” Aomine started dramatically. “As if you’re a genius at doing laundry.”

He stepped into the laundry room and pulled out a sock from the nearest basket and sniffed it, trying to piss off Kagami.

“That’s the dirty laundry,” Kagami said biting his lip to keep from laughing.

“Fuck!” Aomine yelled, pissed off and embarrassed that he had just sniffed Kagami’s dirty sock.

Kagami burst out laughing, even crouched over and held his sides. “I’m kidding!” he laughed. “Your face though! If you wanted to sniff my dirty laundry you could have just said.” He lifted his foot and slipped off his sock and held it up to Aomine with a teasing smile. “You want it?”

“Gross,” Aomine said trying not to smirk. He liked Kagami playing around with him like this.

“It’s your kink, you dirty bastard. Here, sniff it,” he said walking towards Aomine with the sock held out.

“Stop Kagami, I’m serious,” Aomine said not able to stop smiling. “If that nasty sock touches me I’ll fight you.”

Kagami threw his sock and it landed on Aomine’s face. Aomine yelled and pounced toward Kagami. Kagami laughed again and tried to keep Aomine away, but Aomine pinched Kagami’s nose and pulled while Kagami laughed his ass off.

“Okay, okay,” Kagami breathed. “I give, stop fighting me.”

“You think I’ll let you give up that easily?” Aomine teased. “I’ll make you beg for defiling me with that disgusting sock.”

“You’ll make me beg, huh?” Kagami said and the air between them changed immediately. One minute they were standing around, shoving each other like little kids and the next minute Kagami’s arms are around him and Aomine’s got his lips pressed against Kagami’s like they’re his only source of air.

“Aomine,” Kagami growled. “Aomine, let’s fu--”

“Kagami,” Aomine hastily interrupted. “I have to go. Shit, sorry.” He was treading water here, with no clue how to divert. “I have to go,” he said again.

“I...what?” Kagami questioned. “What about your apron?”

Shit, shit, shit! He wasn’t supposed to be leaving, he was supposed to be hanging out at Kagami’s--at least until his apron got cleaned but now he went and opened his mouth and ruined everything. All because he was afraid of a penis?!

“Can I come tomorrow morning?” Aomine asked. “Before work?”

“Yeah,” Kagami answered. He looked a little dazed and Aomine almost felt bad. “Yeah that’s fine.”

“Great,” Aomine said lamely. “Um, well I have to go now so I’m going to head out.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Kagami said again. He followed Aomine to the front door and watched as Aomine put on his shoes. Aomine didn’t want to look at him but once he’d straightened up he looked up at Kagami, feeling a bit embarrassed. He was about to say goodbye again and he opened the door but Kagami closed it and kept his hand on it, blocking Aomine from leaving.

“Actually, it’s not fine,” Kagami said seriously and Aomine held his breath while he waited for him to continue. “Am I misreading something?”

Aomine’s heart thumped hard inside his chest and he didn’t know how to answer. Kagami continued speaking. “I mean do you not like me or something? I’m confused because...sometimes I feel like you want this--whatever this is--but I’ve been putting myself in your lap and nothing’s coming from your end.”

Aomine watched as Kagami ran a hand through his hair. His cheeks were pink and he looked embarrassed and Aomine felt horrible for making him do this. But he still didn’t know what to say.

“I feel like I’m always the one to initiate anything,” Kagami said and Aomine was suddenly reminded of Satsuki and the advice he gave her and Tetsu. Before Kagami said anything else Aomine stepped up to him and pushed him against the wall before smashing his mouth against his.

“Stupid,” Aomine whispered against Kagami’s mouth. “I want this. I want you.” He kissed him hard and Kagami kissed him back and everything felt right. “I want you so bad.”

How did it come to this? He really did want Kagami and now Kagami had made it clear that he wanted him too. He’d have to tell Kagami that he was inexperienced. But...that could wait. He wasn’t about to do this now, not with so much embarrassment and tension between them. He would fix things one step at a time.

“Then stay a bit longer,” Kagami murmured. “Come on, stay for a bit.”

Ah shit, he sounded so hot and sexy with his voice like that and Aomine thought he could melt.

“I can’t Kagami,” Aomine said before leaning in to kiss him again. Kagami held onto him and kissed him back harder and Aomine’s self control almost diminished.

“Fifteen minutes,” Kagami said before kissing him again. “Just a little bit.”

Aomine decided that a needy, horny Kagami was a version of Kagami he really liked. And once he figured out exactly how to fuck him he’d be asking Kagami to show him this side of himself over and over again. He’d never get tired of it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Aomine said softly after he pulled away. He opened the door and left the apartment before Kagami could try to convince him to stay.

The next day he was written up at work for showing up without his apron. 

* * *

Aomine was getting used to his work schedule. He’d stopped by Kagami’s with Tetsu for his apron and he’d left while Tetsu stayed behind. The look on Kagami’s face was like a punch to his gut, so to ease Kagami’s suspicions that he was avoiding him Aomine quickly kissed him in front of Tetsu and left before they could catch a glimpse of his bright red face. It was embarrassing and stupid, but Kagami looked just as embarrassed and that made Aomine feel better.

He was distracted as he unpacked the apples to put in their special section and he looked up when he heard a shutter sound of a camera and saw a flash of light. He was confused when he looked up but then annoyed and pissed off when he saw where the sound and light came from.

The stupid idiots Satsuki, Tetsu, and Kise were crowding on the other side of the apples, next to the papayas, watching him like they were witnessing a miracle. Satsuki actually cried and Kise applauded.

“Wow, Aominecchi, look at you!” Kise came around and surveyed Aomine’s work. “You’re a professional apple-shelfer now!”

Aomine sighed. “Shut the fuck up, Kise, that’s not even a real profession.”

“Kurokocchi, take another picture but this time with me--” he tried to put his arm around Aomine but Aomine shoved him away.

“I’m going to kick you guys out for loitering,” Aomine hissed. “Why are you here?”

“Because we’re so proud of you Dai-chan!” Satsuki said dramatically. “You went off on your own and found yourself a job, all by yourself!”

“We’re just in shock, is all, Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said with his usual deadpan. “Smile, please.”

“And also to remind you that now that you’re working you have to get me a present for my birthday next month,” Kise said as he posed with his thumbs up. Aomine frowned as Tetsu took another picture.

“Can you guys leave!” Aomine growled and herded his dumb friends toward the front of the shop, even while they kept fussing over how proud they were of him.

Kagami laughed when Aomine told him what had happened after he’d gotten off work and gone over to his apartment.

Aomine was nervous and he had no idea how to stall, but he knew that Kagami was expecting them to do more than just make out this time. He hoped that he looked calm and collected on the outside because on the inside he was all sorts of messed up.

“You’re not going to run away this time, are you?” Kagami asked from where he sat next to Aomine on the couch.

“I don’t _run away_ ,” Aomine said indignantly, blatantly ignoring Kagami’s cocky smirk. “Shut up.”

“Okay,” Kagami shrugged. “Just don’t get me all worked up this time, okay?”

Aomine was going to tell him to shut the hell up again but suddenly his lips were preoccupied with kissing Kagami back. Aomine knew he was in trouble this time. He could sense Kagami’s urgency with his kisses and he wished more than ever that he could reciprocate, and he tried his best to keep up but Kagami was totally dominating him. So Aomine put his hands on Kagami’s face and pulled him off for a second before biting Kagami’s lips and kissing him again.

“Mmm,” Kagami nearly growled with satisfaction. Aomine kept kissing him like that, deep, rough, hard, and he could swear Kagami started purring.

Ah, fuck, Aomine was getting seriously turned on. He wasn’t going to last at this rate.

“Aomine,” Kagami breathed. Aomine thought he’d come right then and there but suddenly Kagami was away from him and Aomine felt disoriented. He couldn’t do anything except watch as Kagami knelt on the floor between his legs.

Aomine’s heart thumped hard before he swore he could feel it stop. His breath stalled too and he froze as Kagami stared at him with lust in his eyes while he reached for the button on Aomine’s jeans.

Shit, this wasn’t good. Everything was happening so quickly and Aomine was so turned on and hot for Kagami; he didn’t want Kagami to stop, he wanted to feel Kagami on top of him but he regained some of his senses when Kagami’s hot breath reached his tip and before he could warn Kagami, Kagami had him in his mouth and it was all over before anything had even started.

“Oh my god,” Aomine murmured embarrassed out of his mind. He could die of embarrassment and his face felt hot behind his hands. He pressed his hands hard into his face and felt like crying.

How fucking stupid! He’d gotten himself all worked up and Kagami’s tongue had barely touched him and he was spilling all over his face like an asshat.

“Um,” Kagami started and Aomine felt awkward but he looked at him anyway. “It’s okay.”

Aomine’s face felt like it was on fire and even the air around him felt hot. There Kagami was, kneeling before him, looking awkward and sexy with the evidence that Aomine was an inexperienced ninny...literally written all over his face.

Kagami took off his shirt and wiped his face with it before tossing it to the side. “Just warn me next time.”

Aomine grabbed a pillow and placed it over his crotch. He covered his face again and didn’t move. He didn’t say anything either, just waited for Kagami to get it.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kagami said soothingly, putting his hands on the sides of Aomine’s thighs. “Don’t worry about it.”

Aomine jolted when Kagami’s hand gripped him again under the pillow in his lap.

“You’re still really hard too,” Kagami said softly and curiously. “Wait…”

Oh god Kagami was finally getting it. “Aomine…”

Aomine didn’t want to look. He didn’t want to be there anymore. He just wanted to leave. He jumped again when Kagami grabbed his wrists to move them away from his face.

Kagami’s face was close and it was almost as red as Aomine’s felt.

“Aomine, are you a virgin?”

Aomine looked at him and very slowly nodded once. Kagami sat back on his heels and looked up at him disbelievingly.

“Why didn’t you say anything, idiot?” he sighed. “Fuck, now I feel like an asshole!”

Aomine didn’t say anything while Kagami ran a hand through his hair.

“Well at least now everything makes sense!” Kagami growled but he quickly looked up at Aomine and leaned up to kiss him. “You’re so stupid.”

Aomine was quiet as he watched Kagami climb back onto the couch next to Aomine.

“Say something, dumbass!” Kagami nudged him. “Fuck, do you hate me or something?”

“I don’t hate you,” Aomine answered. “Well I do hate you but not more because of this.”

Kagami looked at him without saying anything and Aomine felt too awkward to stay there.

“I’m gonna go,” he mumbled. He made to get up but Kagami pulled him back down.

“Don’t,” Kagami said. “I mean, wait a second.”

Aomine settled back against the couch. “Sorry--”

“Cut the crap,” Kagami said. “You know no one cares if you’re a virgin, right? Well at least, I don’t care. Though, what the hell, man? You kiss so good I wouldn’t have guessed--”

“Yeah, well kissing and sex are completely different you know!” Aomine argued. “ _You’re_ the stupid one--”

“Yeah?” Kagami shot back. “Maybe I am stupid. Stupid enough to think you actually planned to have sex with me--”

“But I do want to have sex with you!” Aomine shouted and then hid his face again. How embarrassing! “And now I hate you even more for making me say that!”

“Aomine, you stupid fuck,” Kagami growled. “You are _officially_ the _dumbest person_ I have _ever_ met. I can’t believe you got yourself all caught up in something so stupid just because you didn’t, what? Want to lose your manly pride or whatever--”

“Shut up!” Aomine’s face flared up again. “You wouldn’t know, you weren’t there. Kise and Midorima--”

“Are fucking assholes!” Kagami finished for him. “And you are just as much as them because you let them drag you into this! And then you dragged me into this! And now I feel stupid because I literally gave someone the world’s worst blow job in the history of ever--”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Aomine groaned. “Can you not remind me?”

“ _Remind_ you?” Kagami hissed. “What the fuck does that even mean it just happened and you were--”

“Kagami!” Aomine said sternly. “Shut up!”

Kagami stopped talking so Aomine continued. “Look, sorry I didn’t tell you or whatever but I didn’t think it’d ever get to this point.”

Kagami dropped his head to his hands and sighed loudly. “So now what?”

“Well now my secret is officially out so you can do whatever you want with that information. I don’t give a shit anymore,” Aomine huffed.

“Wait,” Kagami said looking up. “No one knows?”

Aomine shook his head.

“Not even Momoi?”

“Gross!” Aomine frowned. “No of course not why would she know something like that about me?”

Kagami shrugged. “I don’t know, I thought you guys were super close. I tell Tatsuya everything--”

“Oh,” Aomine interrupted. “Well then why don’t you go ahead and tell _Tatsuya_ everything about me too--”

“Dammit, Aomine, can you shut up and stop being an asshole for five fucking minutes? I’m obviously not going to tell him about you seeing as I haven’t told him we’re in a _fake_ relationship! Which, may I remind you, I am _so_ obviously the better boyfriend in because I’m the one putting up with all of your stupid bullshit!”

Aomine didn’t say anything because Kagami was absolutely right. The thought made him shiver.

“And for the record,” Kagami went on. “No one cares that you’re a virgin!”

Aomine slumped back against the couch. “Thanks,” he huffed back.

Kagami calmed down too and he also leaned against the couch. Aomine turned to face Kagami and noticed that Kagami was watching him, too.

“Imayoshi knows we haven’t fucked or anything,” Aomine said lamely. “He sort of guessed it because he’s creepy as hell.”

“Aomine,” Kagami said moving closer to him. “You’re stupid as hell.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that,” Aomine said back with his eyes narrowed.

“I’m never going to stop saying it,” Kagami said with a smirk. So he was back to teasing him. “Because it’s always going to be true.” 

Aomine looked down at the pillow still in his lap and wondered how he could tuck himself back in his pants without looking awkward. Kagami put his fingers on Aomine’s chin and turned his face towards him and placed a small kiss on his lips. Aomine tilted his head to kiss him again and Kagami smiled against his mouth as they deepened their kiss.

“Hey,” Kagami said gently. “If you’re still up for it...I can show you what it’s really supposed to feel like when you’re in my mouth?”

“You don’t have to--” Aomine started awkwardly but stopped when Kagami glared at him.

Kagami moved back to the floor between Aomine’s legs and looked up at him as he tossed the pillow to the side. “For the record, saying something like _you don’t have to_ isn’t something you tell someone when they’re offering you sexual favors. It can kill the mood, you know. Unless you really don’t want it.”

“I want it,” Aomine said quickly with cheeks permanently red, probably. Kagami’s smirk was turning him on, but Aomine was still unsure. “Um, do you want me to…return the favor?”

Kagami blinked. “You don’t have to. You’d probably be really bad at it, anyway—“

“Hey—“ Aomine tried to defend himself but Kagami pinched his lips closed.

“Don’t argue with me, dumbass. That’s a given fact,” Kagami looked up at him from where he knelt on the floor and smirked at Aomine again. It was a great look on Kagami but Aomine was starting to hate it. “So, Aomine, do you want me to get you off using my mouth?”

Aomine’s nervousness was starting to subside and he wanted to play along, so he smirked back at Kagami and teased, “Kinda like second base?”

Kagami snickered. “Sure, if we were in middle school. I’d say this is third base though. But…you can help me get to second base, if you’re up for it.”

Aomine grabbed Kagami’s wrist and tugged him up toward him. “Come here, dumbass.”

Kagami climbed onto Aomine’s lap and pressed his lips to his. He pulled back to mumble against Aomine’s mouth, “That’ll be my line…just give me a few minutes.” Aomine thought he was going to come again when Kagami leaned back to stick out his tongue, all the while not losing his smirk. Aomine didn’t really get it until he remembered he’d told Kagami to _come here_.

He thought the fluttering of his insides would tear him apart, and his arms felt light and weak as he reached for the waistline of Kagami’s pants. Kagami guided Aomine’s hand through his pants and laced his fingers over his once Aomine had gotten a hold of Kagami. Needing instruction he looked up to see Kagami’s eyes almost unfocused. He leaned his forehead down to Aomine’s and huffed out a few breaths.

“That’s good,” Kagami breathed. “Touch me the way you do yourself.”

Kagami kissed him again and Aomine had to turn his head.

“Kagami,” he tried not to gasp. “Kagami don’t kiss me like that I won’t last again.”

It was like Kagami didn’t even hear what Aomine had said, or didn’t care because he pressed his mouth to Aomine’s and used his tongue until Aomine had to fight it off with his own. Kagami had gripped him too and even though he was promised third base Aomine was feeling absolutely fantastic at second base. It would be fine even like this. 

* * *

The next day at work Imayoshi was once again quizzing Aomine about Kagami, though this time Aomine was too busy thinking about other things. He hardly heard Imayoshi’s questions and gave him half assed answers.

“Do you know anything about Kagami?” Imayoshi asked with a knowing smirk, expecting Aomine to fail. “Anything like his birthday?”

“I know his personality,” Aomine deadpanned.

“So do like thirty other people,” Imayoshi countered. “He can be an open book what with that short temper of his.”

“His favorite color—“ Aomine started to recite before Imayoshi cut him off.

“Is black, yes. That’s all you know. What does he look best in?”

“Calvin Klein,” Aomine answered without thinking, his mind too far into the scenario that he’d been a part of on Kagami’s couch the day before. He realized what he said and looked up at Imayoshi, shocked. “Um, I mean, what?”

Imayoshi grinned at him with his head tilted in a way that let Aomine know that he knew exactly what kinds of thoughts he was having. Fuck, he was so embarrassed that he had just confessed to Imayoshi that he thought Kagami looked best in Calvin Klein underwear. Though he hadn’t specified the underwear part, Imayoshi’s face told him he didn’t have to.

“Congratulations,” Imayoshi smirked.

They hadn’t gone all the way, but that wasn’t anybody’s business. So he tried to pretend his face didn’t feel warm when he snapped back a harsh, “Shut up.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 


	10. Aomine levels up

Aomine had gotten lucky. Scratch that, he thought bitterly and rephrased his thoughts: Fortune was still on his side. Everyone he knew still believed he was getting laid by Kagami and he hadn’t had a chance to further prove his inexperience to said dumbass.

A week had passed since Aomine had his first sexual experience, and though he was itching for more he and Kagami had been too busy with their own school and sports teams to spend any time with each other. That didn’t stop Aomine from thinking about him at all hours of the day and even at night he didn’t get any relief. Now that he had firsthand experience his dreams were too real, the memory of Kagami’s touch so vivid that he’d wake up so hard it was almost painful. Aomine was embarrassed, pissed off and tired in his classes for having to forego his sleep in order to jerk it at odd hours of the night just so he could get something that felt mildly close to the satisfaction he’d received on Kagami’s couch.

He was in a horrible mood and it wasn’t until one afternoon during practice that Wakamatsu approached him and made a joke about him not getting laid that Aomine realized he was sexually frustrated. For the remainder of practice he aggressively tossed ball after ball, never missing a basket and dunking so hard the team had to do drills while they gave Aomine a wide berth. He noticed the space he was given and even though he was known as the asshole ace he decided to give the team a respite and left practice early in hopes of wearing himself out on a run.

Just as he was thinking that he didn’t give a crap about anything besides what Kagami’s hands or mouth would feel like on his cock his phone rang, interrupting his music. He slowed down to a jog as he checked the caller before answering with a swift, “Hello?”

“Aomine, can you come in to the store today?” It was Imayoshi and even though he phrased his words like a question Aomine knew he really didn’t have a choice in the matter. “I have to take off early and I need you to lock up. Or are you still at practice?”

“I can come,” Aomine said. “I’m still by Touou though. Can you give me like an hour and a half? I’ll swing by Kagami’s and shower before heading over.”

“Good boy,” Imayoshi said and before Aomine could growl out a harsh reply the call ended.

He jogged toward the train station in a much better mood, though that wasn’t saying much considering how awful he still felt. He took a shortcut to the station and when he was on the platform he called Kagami.

“What’s up?” Kagami answered after the fourth ring, sounding out of breath. A dozen dirty visions flashed through Aomine’s thoughts and he cleared his throat before answering.

“Can you be home in like twenty minutes?”

“For what?” Kagami asked suspiciously. “No I don’t like you.”

“Goddammit, Kagami!” Aomine yelled, startling a few people around him. He didn’t care that he scared people and he didn’t care if Kagami was joking. He’d been pent up and frustrated for too long and he wasn’t going to take any more bullshit. “I need to use your shower! I’m on my way now! I’ll be waiting for you right outside the door so you better be there dumbass!”

He heard Kagami yelling back as he brought the phone away from his ear but he didn’t bother to listen and just ended the call. The train arrived just as he was pocketing his phone and he boarded it feeling antsy and wound up.

It took him closer to thirty minutes to get to Kagami’s and when he was buzzed into the apartment Kagami stood near the door with a frown on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

“Hey,” Aomine said ignoring the tense and scary aura that surrounded Kagami.

“Don’t _hey_ me, you bastard,” Kagami said through gritted teeth. “You do realize that I live, like, around the corner from Seirin right? You said twenty minutes so can you tell me why you’re fifteen minutes late? I could have left later.”

“I’m not that late,” Aomine shrugged. “I could have come even later.”

“You’re so annoying,” Kagami sighed. “You do realize that unlike you I actually enjoy going to practice, right?”

“Well sorry,” Aomine said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He was offended. “If you’d rather be with them so bad why don’t you just go then?”  
  
“Fine,” Kagami shrugged back and walked towards the door, past Aomine. Aomine was surprised that Kagami was actually thinking of heading back, so he turned and pulled on his shirt to get him to stop.

“What the fuck, I didn’t actually mean that,” Aomine said.

Kagami turned to face him and flicked him in the forehead. “You’re the worst.”

“ _You’re_ the worst!” Aomine shot back, shoving Kagami back. “Don’t flick me!”

Kagami brought up his hand and flicked Aomine in the face again, laughing when Aomine winced.

Aomine sighed dramatically and dropped his bag. “I’m going to use your shower.”

“Usually people ask first. Nicely,” Kagami teased.

“I’m going to use your shower _please_ ,” Aomine teased back, rolling his eyes. Kagami exaggerated his surprised face and even pretended he was going to faint.

“Wow I didn’t know you knew that word, asshole.”

“Shut the fuck up you dumbass, _please_ ,” Aomine said as he walked toward the bathroom, middle finger held high above his shoulder.

He heard Kagami laugh as he shut the bathroom door and started the shower. He stripped and stood under the stream, enjoying the pressure on his back and shoulders. The way the water fell onto him felt so good against his tired and tense muscles. The water was warm, almost too warm and he closed his eyes as he leaned back, drenching his entire head and reveling in the way the cold was leaving his body. The hot water was like a blanket and he wanted to fall asleep right there standing up.

Kagami had a great shower. He noticed it before when he made himself at home and used the shower, but it was still strange and new to him to see a bathroom set up so different than any other he’d seen in Japan. The shower and the bathtub were in the same spot and Aomine wondered if that meant that Kagami didn’t take baths. He opened his eyes when he heard the door open, and through the opaque shower doors he could see Kagami taking off his clothes.

“Close the door it’ll get cold,” Aomine said standing still. He was already feeling cold and he reached to turn the water a little hotter. He was trying to pretend that his heart wasn’t racing and he forced himself to calm down; he really didn’t want to seem like a floundering fool when Kagami stepped in with him. He half hoped Kagami was just teasing him again and that he wouldn’t step in, but that thought disappeared as soon as the shower door slid open.

Kagami stepped in completely naked and Aomine openly stared. It was the first time he’d seen Kagami this naked before and his face felt warm when he watched Kagami shiver and step in closer.

“Ah,” he groaned. “Move over.”

Aomine stepped out of the way and watched as Kagami stepped under the water, immediately soaking his head and pushing his hair back. Aomine watched Kagami’s back, stared as his back muscles moved in time with the movement of his arms. He wanted to touch, even more so when his eyes finally landed on Kagami’s ass.

Damn he’d never realized that Kagami’s ass was perfect. Aomine was almost content to just stand there for the remainder of the time, just watching Kagami but he was starting to get cold again.

“Stop hogging the water, asshole,” Aomine grumbled. His whole body felt chilly except for his face, more so when Kagami turned over and looked at him, eyes roaming every inch of Aomine’s body.

“Nice,” Kagami teased with a smirk that pissed Aomine off deep into his core.

“Shut up,” he hissed and pulled Kagami away so that he was under the water again. “Your bathroom is weird,” he said, rolling his shoulders under the hot water. He was pretending he didn’t feel his ego inflating knowing that Kagami was still watching him and seemingly enjoying the view.

“Yeah I suppose you would think so,” Kagami said. “This is kind of what they look like in America. The other bathroom is pretty normal for Japan, though. I just don’t use it often because it’s too big to clean.”

“Why don’t you just hire someone to do it, rich boy?” Aomine smirked back at him but then realized what Kagami said and quickly added, “Wait, you have another bathroom? Why didn’t I know about it? So American’s don’t take baths? Just how rich are you exactly?”

Kagami glared at him. “You didn’t know about the other bathroom because you’re an idiot, obviously. And Americans do take baths, but I guess we take more showers. Things are different over there and everything is fast paced.”

Aomine noticed that Kagami didn’t acknowledge his comments about his money situation but he didn’t bring it up again. “Kagami,” Aomine said instead in a serious voice. “I hate you.”

Kagami snorted. “Not as much as I hate you, bastard.”

Aomine thought about what to say, probably meant to call him an even bigger bastard, but forgot all about it when Kagami stepped right up to him and pushed him against the wall. The tiles were like ice against his back and Aomine jolted at the touch. Kagami didn’t relent, though, and he pressed him back harshly and then stepped really close so that Aomine was feeling very cold on his back but pleasantly warm on his front. Kagami was close, very close and their fronts were almost tightly pressed together.

“You came in here to shower but I haven’t seen you grab any soap yet,” Kagami murmured before leaning in and tilting his head so that he could press open mouthed kisses to Aomine’s jaw and neck.

“That’s because you walked in here, too, dumbass,” Aomine replied bringing his hands up behind Kagami’s back to pull him even closer by the ass. “You offering to wash me?”

“You’ll never be that lucky,” Kagami said leaning in to kiss him. Aomine met him halfway and though he was expecting a deep kiss he hadn’t been expecting Kagami’s tongue right away, and his blood rushed to parts of his body that had been screaming for attention for the past several days.

“Damn,” Kagami sighed. “You’re getting hard so fast.”

He looked down pointedly and Aomine looked down too, hoping the steam from the shower hid the red he was sure was present in his face. Kagami kissed him again.

“Do you want to fuck?” Kagami breathed, thrusting his hips forward against Aomine. Instinctively Aomine reciprocated the move, simultaneously thrusting up towards Kagami and bringing him closer with his hands still on his ass.

Aomine tingled everywhere; his whole groin felt hot in anticipation and he felt giddy apart from that. Kagami was there with him like this, Kagami wanted _him_ like this. It was as if Kagami could sense Aomine’s urgency and he reached between them to grab a hold of both of their growing erections to squeeze and press with experienced fingers.

It felt so different when it was Kagami’s hands wrapped around him instead of his own. Aomine leaned his head forward and breathed into Kagami’s neck, biting down a few times and licking away the water falling onto him before pulling back to look at him.

He hadn’t answered his question and he didn’t know how to say, “I have no idea how to fuck you” without sounding like an idiot. He did want to fuck Kagami, he’d been anticipating the moment for what felt like an eternity and he was itching to try out everything he’d learned from porn and his pervy magazines, but it was too soon. He felt confident but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to put on a good show and he really wanted to impress Kagami. He considered himself fortunate again when he remembered he didn’t have all the time in the world.

Kagami didn’t ask again and Aomine was glad that he didn’t take his silence as a plea to stop the attention all together. Instead, Aomine watched as Kagami stepped away and knelt down. He moved back and pulled Aomine forward so that Aomine was standing right underneath the water. Kagami gripped his hips hard before leaning in and sucking him into his mouth. On instinct again Aomine moved his hips forward, crying out softly as he did but Kagami’s hands held him back.

The hot water falling on his back and the warmth of Kagami’s mouth had Aomine feeling as if he were going to melt. He had to close his eyes to the sensations when Kagami looked up at him with his mouth still surrounding his dick. Aomine groaned when Kagami brought up his hands to accompany his mouth, and though Aomine wanted to stand there and drown in the pleasure he still remembered that he had places to be so he set to it to multitask. He grabbed some of Kagami’s soap and rubbed it into his hair and all over his chest, feeling like he was receiving the world’s most erotic massage.

When Aomine opened his eyes again he almost regretted it. Kagami’s eyes were closed and he was moving his head and one of his hands in a steady rhythm, a look of concentration on his face that was so fierce it brought Aomine closer to the edge. Kagami’s other hand was wrapped around himself, moving in time with the hand wrapped around Aomine and that, along with the small moans vibrating through him, was enough to throw Aomine off the edge. It happened suddenly, almost unexpectedly and he hardly had any time to warn Kagami.

“Oh shit,” Aomine mumbled, torn between wanting to thrust into Kagami’s mouth and trying to get him off his dick. “Kagami--ah, Kagami I’m coming!”

Kagami moaned around him and Aomine’s shoulders sagged, he thought his knees would give in as he came inside Kagami’s mouth. Aomine had his eyes screwed shut, but he felt Kagami moaning around him and when he opened his eyes again he saw that Kagami had finished too. Aomine stood under the water, panting as Kagami backed away from him and then crawled toward the drain to spit everything he’d caught in his mouth. He stood up again and rubbed at his mouth with the back of his hand and Aomine pulled him forward for a short and messy kiss.

Kagami leaned against the wall, watching as Aomine finished scrubbing himself with soap and started his own shower once Aomine stepped out and closed the shower door behind him. Aomine dried off, wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom to finish getting ready outside, knowing he was one hundred percent screwed for the future. Showers were never going to be the same.

* * *

It was another day at the office, or rather, another day sitting beside the register and Aomine was regretting living up to his responsibilities. He was bored at work since hardly any customers came in the closer it was to closing time, and lately since Imayoshi was busy with school, he had been working the closing time. Not even his beloved Mai-chan and her perfect boobs could entertain him for too long and still everything reminded him of Kagami.

It had been another two days since he had seen Kagami and he was steadily growing frustrated that their schedules never seemed to be in sync. It was like Kagami would only give him a taste and then disappear to make him suffer and long for more.

Aomine was starting to think that blowjobs weren’t enough anymore.

He looked up when the door opened and immediately perked up when he saw Kagami stroll in.

“Welcome,” Aomine drawled, trying to keep from smirking. “Can I help you find anything?”

“Wow,” Kagami said walking up to him. “You’re actually doing your job?”

Aomine pointed to a camera above the register. “Imayoshi’s going to check it later.”

Kagami snickered and leaned against the counter. Aomine leaned towards him as well.

“You know,” he teased with his elbows propping him up. He’d seen Mai-chan pose like this in her latest photo shoot. If he were a girl maybe he could seduce Kagami with his boobs all pressed together looking super soft and touchable. Actually, it would be better if Kagami were the one with the boobs--

“What?” Kagami asked, distracting him. “Don’t space out when you’re about to say something, dumbass.”

“I was just going to say,” Aomine said trying to sound like Midorima, pompous and like a total hardass. “Imayoshi is going to watch these tapes later to make sure I’m doing my job. So you should probably kiss me or something.”

“How does that prove you’re doing your job?” Kagami asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It proves we’re fake dating,” Aomine said, still in a matter of fact voice as he leaned towards him with a smirk. He puckered up his lips obnoxiously and laughed when Kagami grimaced.

“I don’t want to kiss that face,” Kagami grumbled, his cheeks somewhat pink.

Aomine laughed more. “Kagami, you won’t kiss me but you’ve sucked my co--”

“Shut up, dumbass!” Kagami’s face was a little flushed and Aomine felt giddy and proud and embarrassingly fluttery to think that he could make such a proud guy like Kagami flustered like this.

“Speaking of which,” Aomine went on casually, now way past being embarrassed about blowjobs. “You always do it...is it fine that I haven’t, you know,” he felt like being obnoxious and outright perverted as he brought up his hand to his mouth and moved it and his head in a way to mimic that he was giving head. He even closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue and moved it in a way he might if he were lapping at an ice cream cone.

“Oh my fucking god,” Kagami hissed turning away from him.

“Come on!” Aomine laughed as Kagami disappeared down an aisle. “Answer my question!”

He was still chuckling to himself when Kagami returned with his arms full of stuff.

“Okay, dumbass,” Kagami grumbled dumping everything on the counter. “Ring me up and give me your employee discount too.”

“I’ll give you the discount under one condition,” Aomine smirked.

Kagami narrowed his eyes. “Never mind I don’t want it.”

Aomine laughed and started scanning Kagami’s items. He had various snacks, painkillers and some lubricant. Aomine didn’t comment on it, knowing that any smart comment would backfire against him, but he was suspicious.

“So?” Aomine said expectantly.

“So what?” Kagami huffed as Aomine scanned the items and started putting them into bags for him. “You always fucking do that, just get to the point.”

“Does it bother you that I haven’t been returning any favors?” Aomine asked.

“You’re an asshole,” Kagami shrugged. “It’s not like I expected anything different.”

“Okay, wow, rude,” Aomine said overdramatically, but he really was offended. “I didn’t take you for such a selfless and generous head-giver--”

“Fuck off!” Kagami shot back, his face flushed again. “Drop it already.”

“Why?” Aomine pestered. “I just want to know.” He wanted to know if he should step his game up. He sure as hell didn’t like the idea of Kagami getting it from anyone else.

Kagami sighed and Aomine paused his scanning and packing. “Are you really going to make me say it?”

“Say what?” Aomine leaned forward, curious about what Kagami would say next.

He groaned and rubbed a hand down his face before looking at Aomine distastefully. “Look, I _like_ doing it, okay?”

“Okay,” Aomine blinked and shrugged as if it were nothing. Inside he was reeling. His stomach felt coiled up and he felt a sudden urge to be close to Kagami, to feel his heat and his hands and his mouth, his hot mouth surrounding him with those intense eyes of his watching as he worked at him with a talented tongue, a tongue that _liked_ being on his dick--it was like Aomine could feel it happening right then and there.

Kagami stared at him from across the counter as if he could feel the tension building between them and he leaned forward so Aomine leaned in to meet him for an open mouthed kiss. Their lips moved together and their tongues touched briefly; Aomine was getting carried away.

“Fuck,” Aomine sighed pulling away. “Fuck, fuck, Kagami I’ve still got forty five minutes left of my shift.”

“Come by,” Kagami murmured reaching up to put his hands on either side of Aomine’s neck. “Come over,” they kissed again. “Stay the night.”

Aomine exhaled and pulled away from Kagami’s hold. “Tonight isn’t going to work I have plans with Satsuki.”

“Okay,” Kagami said and Aomine went back to scanning Kagami’s stuff and putting them in the bags. He gave him the employee discount without him having to ask again and watched him walk out of the store with a bag in each hand.

Aomine was left alone to finish up his shift, feeling like he’d been deprived of something delicious.

* * *

It was Saturday and Aomine’s short shift at the store was nearing its end. He was putting price stickers on canned goods when the sound of the door opening followed by an annoying voice had him pausing and wanting to run into the break room.

“There you are Aominecchi!” Crap, Kise had spotted him and he was approaching fast.

“Working hard?” Kise grinned as he walked right up to him.

“What do you want, Kise?” Aomine grumbled.

“I came here to invite you and Imayoshi-san to my birthday party next week,” Kise said. Aomine could swear he was sparkling.

“You couldn’t do that in a text or something?” Aomine huffed.

“If I did you probably wouldn’t reply or show up,” Kise answered as if he couldn’t tell that Aomine just wanted him to leave. “So now you can’t pretend you didn’t know about it.”

“I didn’t know it was already your birthday,” Aomine said. It was barely about to be June, he could have sworn Kise always celebrated in the middle of the month or more towards the end.

“It isn’t,” Kise went on happily. “But the perfect opportunity for me to celebrate early appeared and I’m not going to miss it. It’ll be at a hotel where my photo shoot will be taking place and there will be a ton of people there! You won’t want to miss it.”

“I do, actually,” Aomine said bluntly. “Thanks but I don’t want to go.”

“So mean, Aominecchi!” Kise hung his head. “At least pretend to be excited about it and then don’t show up! Jeez, you have no manners at all.”

“I don’t feel bad,” Aomine shrugged and turned back to his work hoping that Kise would take a hint.

“I guess I’ll see Kagamicchi there by himself, then,” Kise went on casually. “He already said he would go.”

“I hope you both have fun,” Aomine said through gritted teeth.

“I know I will, and I’m sure Kagamicchi will too.” Kise looked at his fingernails and picked at them while he kept talking. “There will be a lot of my coworkers there, you know. And Kagamicchi’s not bad looking at all. If he’s there by himself I’m sure someone might see to it that he doesn’t feel lonely—”

“Oh my god, do you ever shut up?” Aomine snapped. “If it gets you to be quiet already, fine, I’ll go. Now get out of here before you seriously piss me off.”

“Great!” Kise smiled. “I’ll see you then! Enjoy the rest of your shift, Aominecchi!” He was walking backwards and waving at him so he didn’t see the cart where Aomine was grabbing the canned food to place on the shelf. He walked right into it and spilled its contents onto the floor.

“Oops!” Kise said sounding insincere.

“Kise!” Aomine yelled as Kise quickly walked away. “I’m going to kick your ass at your stupid party!”

“Aomine,” Imayoshi said coming towards him with a frown. “We talked about yelling and swearing if it happens again I’ll suspend you.”

“Sorry,” Aomine growled out, trying to not be annoyed. “Won’t happen again.”

He was still fuming by the time he got to Kagami’s apartment and he got even more pissed off when he saw that his anger was amusing Kagami.

“Stop looking so amused it’s annoying,” Aomine spat.

Kagami laughed. “What’s got you all pissed off anyway?”

“Kise!” Aomine yelled. “He came to my job today and told me about his stupid party and wouldn’t shut up until I agreed to go. And then he knocked everything over.”

“Kise is having a party?” Kagami asked. “When? Are you going? Am I invited?”

Aomine looked at Kagami with pursed lips and silently counted to ten.

“He told me you already agreed to go,” Aomine said carefully.

“Oh,” Kagami sounded confused. “I guess I’ll just show up then.”

“Okay, enough about the stupid party,” Aomine said loudly. “Before I really start to get pissed off and do something terrible to Kise. Distract me.”

Kagami grinned and shook his head. “You say that but you wouldn’t really do anything horrible to Kise, anyway.”

“I said distract me—”

“Okay, okay,” Kagami said moving towards him. He pressed his lips to Aomine’s and pulled back with a smirk. “Distracted?”

“Little more,” Aomine murmured and leaned in to kiss him again.

“Why are we standing here,” Kagami said breaking away from their kiss. “Come kiss me over here.”

He pulled Aomine with him towards the living and plopped down on the couch, bringing Aomine on top of him. Aomine really liked this position and he smirked at Kagami before leaning down to kiss him again. Aomine was kissing his way down Kagami’s neck when the doorbell rang loud and harsh, causing them both to jump and break apart.

“Were you expecting someone?” Aomine asked.

“No,” Kagami shook his head and made to get up.

“What if it’s just Kise coming about that party? Don’t answer it,” Aomine said pushing Kagami back.

“What if it’s not?” Kagami wiggled and got up so that Aomine was left on the couch.

Aomine didn’t hear who was at the door and he couldn’t see the door from where he was sitting so he stretched while he waited for Kagami to come back. When he didn’t come back right away he got up to see what was holding him up.

He heard it before he saw it and he quickly stepped back before he could be spotted. It was that girl again! The one Kagami had told him he’d ended things with. What was she doing back? Aomine didn’t want to panic, but thoughts of Kagami with her wouldn’t leave his head and he was afraid that he had been seeing her without him knowing.

He quickly tried to rid himself of those thoughts. Kagami had told him he ended things with the girl. Kagami had told him that he was a one partner at a time kind of guy. Aomine was just coming up with his own assumptions. But she was still there and Aomine didn’t like that.

So he took drastic measures.

Aomine took off his shirt and pants, his socks coming off with them, leaving him only in his underwear. He pulled them down a little so that they sat just below his hips and he walked towards the front door, running a hand through his hair to muss it up and appear nonchalant.

“Kagami, are you going to keep me waiting forever or what?” he said lazily as he walked up to Kagami and his guest.

They both turned to look at him and Aomine pretended to be surprised.

“Oh,” he said. “Sorry I didn’t know you were busy.”

“She was just leaving,” Kagami said looking Aomine up and down with a smirk on his face.

“Sorry,” the girl said. Her face was red and she turned away to leave quickly. Kagami closed the door behind her and leaned back against it as he continued to watch Aomine.

“Really?” he said still smirking. Aomine shrugged, pretending not to know what Kagami was talking about. Kagami walked towards him. “Nice touch, pulling your briefs down like that. And mussing up your hair, too. Really gives the illusion that we’ve been going at it or something.”

Aomine looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Because in case you haven’t realized, we haven’t been going at anything because you got up to get the door.”

“Well thanks for your help,” Kagami said putting his hands on Aomine’s hips and slipping them into his underwear. “What was that you said about me keeping you waiting?”

* * *

They could hear the noise from Kise’s party from a block away. Kagami and Aomine looked at each other.

“Wow,” they both said at the same time.

They kept walking and when they got to the block where the hotel was they saw Tetsu and Satsuki also arriving.

“Yo!” Aomine called and they stopped to wait for them.

“Isn’t this too much?” Kagami said as they all walked up to the door together. There was a bouncer and a line to get in.

“Yes,” Tetsu said looking around. “Kise-kun seems to have really outdone himself this year.”

“He’s so annoying!” Aomine growled.

When they got to the front of the line the bouncer looked at them and pointed at Kagami and Satsuki. “You two can go on in, I’m going to need to see IDs for you,” he said the last part to Aomine.

“You mean both of us,” Tetsu spoke up and Aomine tried not to laugh when the bouncer jumped. “What do you mean IDs? We’re here for Kise Ryota’s party.”

“Oh,” the bouncer said. “What are your names?”

“Aomine Daiki,” Aomine answered and pointed to Kagami and Satsuki. “Hey, how come you didn’t ID them?”

The bouncer turned to look at them while Tetsu gave his own name and he checked them off the list. “I thought they were part of the party.”

“What?” Aomine asked, confused and then slowly he realized what he meant. “What! Did you think they were _models_?”

“My mistake,” the bouncer said and ushered them inside. “Don’t hold up the line.”

He turned to complain to Tetsu but he was already standing next to Satsuki, looking proud as she blushed and muttered nonsense that sounded a lot like a fake, “No way could I ever be a model.” Aomine rolled his eyes as she pretended to not love the attention.

He turned to Kagami and frowned when he saw him looking arrogant and proud as well.

“Hey Aomine,” he said cockily. “Did you hear? Maybe I should ask if they’re hiring—”

Aomine elbowed him in the gut. “Shut up, stupid.”

“Aw,” Kagami said rubbing his stomach. “Don’t be jealous Aomine. I’m sure there’s someone out there who finds you attractive—oof!”

Aomine elbowed him again and walked off into the party leaving him behind. He walked about ten steps before he went all the way back to drag Kagami along with him by the wrist. He remembered what Kise had said about his coworkers and made it his personal mission to make sure Kagami wasn’t seen alone even once. Together they walked around, looking for Kise.

“This is seriously too much,” Kagami said as they stood in the lobby of the hotel, near the grand staircase. There were posters of Kise and other models everywhere and the music coming from one of the ballrooms was loud enough to hear from where they were standing.

“This was obviously a company party,” Midorima had shown up at their side holding a roll of paper towels. Unsurprisingly Takao stood beside him. “I’m not surprised Kise managed to make this event about himself.”

“How long have you been here?” Kagami asked.

“About ten minutes,” Takao answered. “Kise still hasn’t shown up, though.”

“He’ll probably make a grand entrance,” Aomine said.

“Did Kuroko come too?” Midorima asked.

“I’m right here, Midorima-kun,” Tetsu said unexpectedly. “I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Don’t lie!” Midorima scolded. “And why does Momoi’s face look like it’s on fire?”

“Oh please,” Satsuki said closing her eyes and turning her face away. “You’re too much, Midorin, I’m not that hot…”

Takao started laughing and a look of confusion passed Midorima’s face. Aomine was about to open his mouth to call them all idiots when an arm was thrown around his shoulder. He looked up to see Kise had shown up.

“Thanks for coming!” he said happily. He really was sparkling and it pissed Aomine off. “Come this way, Akashicchi and Murasakibaracchi are already here.”

* * *

Kagami seemed to be enjoying himself as he talked to Himuro and that annoying Mibuchi guy, and even Murasakibara was pitching into their conversation. He felt that it was safe to leave Kagami there with those guys so he got up to see what kind of people were mingling about.

“Aominecchi!” Kise said running up to him. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“No thanks,” Aomine said trying to turn away. “I’m busy.”

Kise tugged at his arm. “But Haizaki came inside to the party, even though I already asked him to leave he won’t leave! I can’t get the bouncer to help either since he was the one who let him in in the first place—”

“Where is he?” Aomine interrupted, scanning the room.

“Over there by the bar,” Kise said pointing his head in the direction. “Are you going to beat him up, Aominecchi?”

“Why would I do that?” Aomine deadpanned.

“Because you care about me?” Kise said with a cheeky grin and a wink.

“You’re gross,” Aomine said. “Leave it to me, though. I’ll get him to leave.”

“Thank you Aominecchi!” Kise said sincerely. “Can you tell me once he’s gone? I’m going to go over by Kasamatsu-senpai just in case.”

“Why didn’t you just get him to make Haizaki leave?” Aomine asked.

“Are you kidding?” Kise answered. “I don’t have that kind of drama with Kasamatsu, I’m not about to bring that into our lives.”

Aomine shrugged as Kise walked away and before he went over to Haizaki he went back to where Kagami was. “Kagami, come with me for a second.”

Kagami stood up and followed Aomine, not asking questions until they reached Haizaki.

“Oi, what’s this asshole doing here?” Kagami said loudly stepping up to him. Aomine pushed him back. Kagami had already done his part of intimidating Haizaki and Aomine wasn’t really going to start any trouble.

“Haizaki was just leaving,” Aomine said looking at Haizaki coldly.

Bringing Kagami was a good idea. Haizaki looked between them and made the smart choice of not disagreeing with them and he raised his hands up in mock surrender.

“He’s right,” he said with a nasty smirk. “Just leaving.”

He bumped Kagami’s shoulder and Kagami snarled and reached his hand out for him but Aomine pushed it down.

“Calm down idiot, we just needed him to leave,” Aomine said watching as Haizaki made his way out the door.

“But I hate that guy!” Kagami yelled.

“If he comes back you can beat him up,” Aomine reasoned.

Kagami shrugged. “Okay.”

* * *

Aomine didn’t know how long they were sitting on a couch near a corner at Kise’s party, and at one point it was just Aomine and Kagami there. Aomine sipped from his cup as he watched Kagami sit with a pensive look on his face. His cheeks had a little bit more color than when they’d first arrived and Aomine wondered if he was getting tipsy from the alcohol.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Aomine teased, reaching over to tap Kagami’s forehead.

“Shut up,” Kagami huffed and stayed quiet.

“What’s got you looking like you’re trying to do math?” Aomine asked before he took another drink from his cup.

Kagami shrugged. “Kinda wondering what kind of faces you’ll make when you finally fuck me.”

Caught off guard Aomine spluttered and ended up spitting his drink back into his cup.

“What?” he exclaimed. How could Kagami say that so casually and in such a place like this? Was he getting drunk?

Aomine stood up and dragged Kagami with him, taking him towards a dark hallway that led to the bathroom. He pushed Kagami up against the wall and pressed his mouth to his.

“How do I?” Aomine asked urgently.

“What?” Kagami asked in a dazed voice. “How do you what?”

“Fuck you,” Aomine explained. “How do I fuck you?”

“I’m not going to get into the details now!” Kagami scowled. “Are you crazy—”

“Alright, shut up,” Aomine said to keep Kagami from yelling. He thought of something else he’d like to do to Kagami and said, “I want to suck your dick.”

“Yeah?” Kagami smirked at him. “I think that’s a great idea—”

He was interrupted when the bathroom door opened and three girls exited. Aomine dragged Kagami into the bathroom and locked the door. He pressed him up against it, kissed him hard and knelt on the floor in front of Kagami.

“Whoa, wait, you meant you want to do it now?” Kagami asked with his cheeks red.

“You don’t want to?” Aomine asked, now unsure of himself.

“No, I do,” Kagami said quickly. “If you do.”

“Great,” Aomine said feeling a little dumb. “Um, can you…sort of tell me how you like it? I’ve never done this before.”

“Okay,” Kagami said and Aomine looked away from his face to focus on what was in front of him. He felt self-conscious and embarrassed as he pulled Kagami out of his jeans. He felt himself getting hard when he noticed Kagami wasn’t wearing any underwear.

He looked up at Kagami again when he wrapped his hand around him and gave a tentative lick. Kagami watched him and when Aomine put him into his mouth Kagami sighed and leaned his head back against the door.

“That’s good,” Kagami breathed. “Can you do it a little harder?”

Aomine did as Kagami instructed, encouraged by the sounds of enjoyment coming from Kagami’s throat.

* * *

Kagami wasn’t drinking anymore and he sat leaning into Aomine’s side. Aomine wanted to touch him, wanted to see Kagami come undone again and again like he had in the bathroom earlier during the party. His insides churned as his mind kept replaying the way Kagami sounded, how he had moved his hips towards Aomine’s face and nearly doubled over him as he came.

Some of Kise’s guests had left and Aomine hadn’t bothered to check the time. Tetsu was sitting by them so Aomine got up in search of something to eat. He was piling up snacks onto a plate when Akashi walked up to him.

“Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Sure,” Aomine shrugged and followed him out onto the patio. “What’s up?”

“How are you, Aomine?” Akashi asked kindly. Aomine was immediately weirded out.

“Good,” he answered carefully. “And yourself?”

“I’m well, thank you. How are things with Kagami?”

“Good,” Aomine felt like he had to tiptoe around something. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just concerned that your lie was wearing you out,” Akashi said pleasantly. “You know, Aomine, it would be a lot easier for everyone if you just came out with the truth. No one cares you know, but at this rate you’ll end up looking stupid when it’s all over.”

Aomine was glad he didn’t have anything in his mouth because he was sure he would be choking if he did. How did Akashi know? Imayoshi figured it out and Aomine had given in to that quite fast but how did Akashi figure it out? He was never even near them.

“What are you talking about?” Aomine asked calmly, trying his best to pretend he was confused about where Akashi was coming from.

“You’re pretending to date Kagami,” Akashi said simply with an air of someone who just solved a difficult puzzle. “It took me a while to figure out why you would, you know, but now it all makes sense.”

Aomine tried to hide his panic. Akashi knew he was a lying virgin?! “I’m not pretending to date Kagami,” he lied.

“Your lie is concealed poorly,” Akashi went on, ignoring Aomine. “It would be best to avoid getting yourself trapped in an even bigger web.”

“I’m not pretending to date Kagami,” Aomine said again, this time a little more harshly.

“It’s okay, Aomine,” Akashi said as if he were speaking to a child. “You don’t have to hide it anymore. It’s okay if you’re straight.”

Aomine was completely astounded as the words left Akashi’s mouth. That was not what he expected to hear at all. It was all so stupid he wanted to laugh.

“You’re pretending to date Kagami?” 

Aomine turned around to see Midorima walking towards them, still holding onto his roll of paper towels.

“I knew it,” Midorima said. “I knew something was weird about you two—”

“Whoa, wait, stop,” Aomine held up a hand. “Where do you two get off talking to me like you know every small detail about my life?”

“He’s not even gay?” Midorima ignored Aomine to turn to Akashi to speak to him as if Aomine weren’t there.

“He probably felt pressure to fit in, since most of his peers, namely us, the Generation of Miracles, have relationships with partners of the same gender,” Akashi explained.

“I’m not pretending to date Kagami!” Aomine cried out almost desperately. “I too am gay! I’m super gay! And our relationship isn’t fake! You’re fake!”

“That sounds stupid,” Midorima said, still ignoring Aomine. “Where is Kagami? I’m going to go get him so we can sort this out all at once.”

Aomine blocked his path. “Stop meddling in stuff that doesn’t concern you! I already told you I’m not pretending to date Kagami. I’m actually dating him!”

“Hey Aomine,” Kagami’s voice made Aomine jump and he looked over his shoulder to see Kagami standing near the door that led back inside. “You ready to head out? I’m kind of tired.”

“He’ll be right there,” Akashi said. “Please leave us.”

Kagami shrugged and stepped back inside. Aomine glared at Akashi.

“Don’t tell me Kagami doesn’t know it’s fake?” Akashi said with his finger on his chin.

“Maybe Aomine hasn’t told him he’s not gay,” Midorima said to Akashi.

“Oh my—can you both shut up about stuff that isn’t your business? If that’s all you wanted to speak to me about then I’m leaving. To Kagami’s. Where we’re going to fuck. A lot! Because I’m actually dating him!”

He stomped away from them and back inside where Kagami was leaning against a wall waiting for him. Aomine didn’t stop to say goodbye to anyone as he left the hotel with Kagami right beside him.

The walk back was silent until Kagami started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Aomine growled and had to stop walking when Kagami stopped walking in order to hold his sides.

“‘ _I’m super gay_!’” Kagami had tears of laughter coming down his face as he laughed hard. “Oh my god, you actually said that!”

Aomine’s face felt red so he turned away and kept walking. “Fuck off!”

Kagami stayed back, still laughing. “Wait!” he laughed. “Hold on Aomine, I’m sorry, I’ll stop laughing don’t leave without me—”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence as he kept laughing and Aomine didn’t stop walking. He was about a block ahead of him when he heard Kagami jogging to keep pace with him. He was still chuckling.

“If you heard all of that why didn’t you intervene?” Aomine asked as they turned down a street to get to Kagami’s place.

“What for? So I could become a victim too? I don’t want to be there when everyone _does_ find out our relationship is fake,” Kagami said. “Not me. No thanks. Besides if I hadn’t stepped in at all you might still be there trying to convince them of your gayness.” He laughed again and Aomine turned to glare at him.

“Next time I’m having you take a picture of your dick in my mouth. We’ll send it to them as proof,” Aomine said dramatically.

Kagami laughed again. “Gross. Anyway, what I’m more concerned with is that last bit you were going on about.”

Aomine tensed up, knowing exactly what Kagami was referring to. “What bit?”

Kagami pretended to forget what he wanted to say. “Ah, what was that last part? Something about coming over…and we were going to, what was it?” He paused for five whole seconds. “Oh yeah! Fuck. A lot.”

He walked in front of Aomine so that Aomine would stop walking.

“Was that all a front, too?” Kagami asked looking at Aomine straight in the eyes.

“No,” Aomine answered.

“So you want to?” Kagami asked stepping close.

“Yes,” Aomine said and looked away with a glare because he felt embarrassed. Kagami looked embarrassed too and Aomine hid the fact that he was nervous about what would happen as soon as they walked through Kagami’s front door.

* * *

It turned out that as soon as they walked into Kagami’s apartment Kagami pretended that their conversation on the walk there hadn’t happened.

Aomine was left feeling like he was floating in unknown waters as he tried to figure out how to ask Kagami if he was just teasing him. Aomine stood near the entrance, sort of just waiting around until he gathered his bearings and figured out what the hell was going on. Kagami was somewhere else in the apartment and he walked back to Aomine after a few minutes.

They were quiet while they looked at each other and Aomine felt awkward. It was awkward; they had both talked about what they wanted to do but now it seemed neither really knew how to go about starting it.

Finally Kagami walked over and put his hands on Aomine. Aomine didn’t hesitate to reciprocate and they kissed again and again with their hands roaming over each other’s bodies.

“Do you want to go into the bedroom?” Kagami asked with his lips near the corner of Aomine’s mouth. “Or do you want your first time to happen on my couch?”

He was teasing him and Aomine felt like he didn’t have the strength to defend himself.

“Bedroom,” Aomine muttered and then followed Kagami there. They kissed again, standing near the bed until Kagami laid down on it, pulling Aomine on top of him.

Shirts came off and pants followed and when they weren’t wearing anything Aomine propped himself up on his elbows to look at Kagami for guidance.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Kagami smirked at him. Aomine wanted to fuck that smirk right off Kagami’s face.

Not really sure what to do and hoping that Kagami would stop him if he were doing anything wrong, Aomine pushed Kagami’s legs so that they were spread and he laid between them. He used one hand to guide himself to Kagami’s ass but before his tip could touch anywhere near his goal Kagami pushed him back.

“Whoa, wait, hold on you can’t just stick it in like that!” Kagami said sitting up a little. His eyes were wide and his cheeks were pink.

“Then where does it go?” Aomine asked with a frown on his face. He tilted his head in confusion. He’d watched a lot of gay porn, he was pretty positive the dick was supposed to go in the ass.

“No, I mean, yes it does go there, but like I said before it’s been a long time since I’ve hooked up with another guy.” Kagami explained, his face was getting pinker and pinker. “You have to, you know, prepare or whatever.”

Aomine blinked, trying to understand what the hell Kagami was talking about. Maybe he should have googled it along with all of his porn watching.

“I thought you said you watched all kinds of porn,” Kagami muttered.

“I do!” Aomine said. “But in the porns I’ve watched they just get right to it! They don’t give a fucking tutorial, Kagami—”

“Okay, alright,” Kagami cut him off before Aomine’s voice could reach high volumes. “Just, here, look, use your fingers first.”

Aomine was still confused about what Kagami meant and he wrapped his fingers around Kagami’s dick.

He sighed and dropped his head back. “I meant…not that this isn’t good, but I meant use your fingers down _there_ , you know?”

“No, Kagami,” Aomine sat back on his heels. “I’m seriously lost here.”

Kagami put his hands over his face. “I don’t know how to say this without both of us feeling like idiots. Use your fingers to stretch my ass before you put your dick in, dumbass.”

 _Oh_. Aomine finally understood what Kagami meant, but still felt completely lost about how to actually _do_ what Kagami meant. It was now or never, Aomine thought. It was either go big or go home and he was feeling bold tonight.

“Show me,” Aomine nearly whispered. Kagami removed his hands from his face and put lube onto his own fingers before moving them towards his ass. Aomine held his hand to stop him. “No, I meant… _show me_.”

Kagami stopped and Aomine saw his eyes widen. His own face felt warm as Kagami sat up to look at him.

“Aomine, do you mean…? You want me to…?” Kagami asked, not saying it but also not needing to.

Aomine nodded. “Kagami I want you to do me first.”

He didn’t say anything and Aomine panicked. “Shit, or not? Do you not do that?”

Kagami kneeled up and leaned forward to kiss him. “I do. I like it either way, so if you want me to I can.”

“I want you to,” Aomine said defiantly. “Please.”

Kagami inhaled sharply and kissed him again. “Okay. I’ll do it. But pay attention, dumbass I want you to learn quick.”

Aomine nodded. “Okay.”

“And look at this, okay, pay attention. This is how you put on a condom.”

* * *

Kise’s party was Friday night and after losing his virginity to Kagami that same night, Aomine hadn’t slept at Kagami’s and he’d walked home feeling strange and a little like a new person. The next day, Saturday, Aomine had lain in bed all day, feeling weird and strangely empty. He had showered but he could still feel and smell Kagami on him. He didn’t feel ashamed, used or dirty, but he did feel embarrassed and a little lonely.

He didn’t know that sex would make him feel like that, and he was wondering if it was because he had done it with someone who he wasn’t in a real relationship with. Kagami had been good to him, the sex was great, and Aomine had come and it had felt intense, long, and good. But later, when he was alone in his own bed he was feeling a little weak and insecure. He couldn’t figure out where those emotions were coming from but they disappeared when Kagami surprised him by coming over on Saturday and showing him again what sex was like.

He’d felt much better the second time around and since he knew what to expect, when it was over the second time he had felt sated and relaxed. Kagami had stuck around longer that time and Aomine felt good as they lay together afterwards, with Kagami talking to him about how he’d felt similar after his first time.

Sunday was Aomine’s bragging day (though he didn’t brag to anyone except to himself in his own head). He couldn’t stop the memories of Kagami’s face from playing over and over in his head and his stomach fluttered and squirmed when he remembered the noises or thought about how good Kagami’s mouth and hands felt all over him. Sunday was the day that Aomine decided that he really liked sex and that he really liked Kagami.

* * *

Aomine woke up Monday morning earlier than usual when his phone buzzed with a text message. He was still half asleep when he reached for his phone but suddenly wide-awake when he noticed that the message was from Kagami.

 _Come over_ , read Kagami’s text and Aomine hastily replied.

_Now?_

_Now_ was the reply and Aomine quickly got up and got ready, dressing in his school uniform so that he could trick his parents and made sure to leave before he could run into Satsuki.

It took him a little longer than usual to get to Kagami’s due to morning traffic and he had skipped breakfast but the excitement of being at Kagami’s had him distracted and he felt great.

Kagami opened the door wearing nothing but sweat pants and he pulled Aomine in and pushed him down onto the couch.

“Morning,” Aomine smirked at him as Kagami straddled his lap and kissed him.

“Morning,” Kagami broke away. “Did you have breakfast? Do you want some or should we have sex first?”

Kagami was different today and Aomine grinned, glad to see his needy and horny side again.

“Sex first, but definitely food in a bit,” Aomine said as he started undressing. Kagami helped him get his pants undone and as soon as the pants were slipped down enough to work Kagami stood up to remove his own pants and straddled him again, completely naked.

“Wow,” Aomine said as he watched Kagami hurry. “Needy?”

“Yeah,” Kagami answered unfazed, putting a condom on Aomine and rubbing him down with lube. “Had a sex dream about you and getting myself off wasn’t enough.”

Aomine was distracted by what Kagami was doing and saying that he didn’t realize that the condom had been placed on him; he didn’t realize what was about to happen until Kagami sat on his dick and buried his face in Aomine’s neck to moan.

“Oh my god, Kagami,” Aomine groaned too, not able to keep unbuttoning his shirt. Kagami was hot and tight and Aomine wasn’t expecting it. Even in his dreams it never felt this good. “Ah, shit, what the hell you could have warned me—”

Kagami moved on top of him and Aomine stopped talking to moan again. This felt good, way too good. He liked this too much, it had just started and he already felt addicted to it. He had to squeeze his eyes shut as Kagami moved on top of him and moaned into his skin.

It was too much and Aomine came quickly. “Ah, ah,” he breathed. “S-sorry, you just feel so good—”

Kagami kissed him but didn’t stop moving on top of him. Aomine jolted and twitched. He pulled Kagami closer and pleaded for him to keep moving.

“Touch me,” Kagami whispered and Aomine grabbed Kagami’s dick and jerked him hard and fast. “Like that,” Kagami said with his eyes closed. “Ah, yes, Aomine I’m going to come—”

Kagami didn’t finish his sentence as he came all over Aomine’s shirt. With a heavy sigh Kagami climbed off Aomine and sat with both of his legs draped over Aomine’s thighs.

“Shit, sorry about your shirt,” Kagami mumbled as he moved closer to Aomine to lay his head on his shoulder.

Aomine didn’t say anything as he brought an arm around Kagami’s waist and drew invisible circles on his lower back. They were quiet for a few minutes.

Kagami was the first to speak. “Was that good?”

“So good,” Aomine sighed.

“You want food now?” Kagami asked, still not moving.

Aomine sat up and maneuvered them so that Kagami was on his back looking up at him. Aomine smirked at him as he kicked his pants and underwear off and settled himself between Kagami’s legs.

“No, I want to fuck you even more now,” Aomine said in a sultry voice as he put on a new condom. He was still hard. “I wanted to prepare you too, you know,” Aomine added as he pushed inside Kagami again.

Kagami’s back arched and he wriggled down onto Aomine, bringing them closer to each other. “Next time.”

* * *

OMAKE:

Midorima and Akashi stood together, both amused as they watched Aomine storm back inside the hotel where Kise’s other guests and friends were all mingling. Not long after Aomine had left, Kuroko came outside on the patio to join them.

“What did you two do to Aomine to get him so upset?” Kuroko asked as he looked between his former teammates.

“We just brought it to his attention that we’re suspicious about his relationship with Kagami,” Midorima answered looking at Kuroko and then to Akashi. “Akashi suspects that Aomine isn’t even gay.”

Kuroko looked at Akashi, unblinking. “What’s with that assumption, Akashi-kun?”

“I was just testing a theory,” Akashi answered. “He seemed determined to have us believe his relationship with Kagami is real, though.”

“Maybe because it is real, Akashi-kun,” Kuroko answered a little coldly. He was always defensive about his best friends.

“If Akashi is suspicious then I am too,” Midorima said. “Besides Aomine’s an idiot and he’s been acting suspicious. I’m sure if we investigate we’ll learn something interesting.”

Akashi smiled. “You seem determined too, Midorima. Well, I’ll leave it to you.”

Midorima nodded as Akashi walked back inside. “Kuroko,” he said turning to him. “You’re not even a little bit suspicious that they didn’t tell you about it from the beginning?”

“It’s none of my business,” Kuroko shrugged.

“Well why don’t you try figuring it out? If everything seems fine I’ll drop it.” Midorima paused dramatically and pushed up his glasses. “Personally, however, I want to see to it that Aomine crumbles.”

“You’ve got to let it go, Midorima-kun,” Kuroko said patiently. “Besides, isn’t your eyebrow fully grown back now?”

Midorima glared and furiously wiped at his eyebrow, smudging green across his forehead. “Not fully grown enough!”

…

OMAKE 2

Imayoshi sat in his office, reviewing the security tapes in order to get a better idea of how Aomine actually behaved when he was left to mind the store on his own. He didn’t find anything interesting, and only learned that Aomine picked his nose an awful lot for someone his age.

Well, at least he washed his hands often.

He was almost done watching the tapes, figuring there wouldn’t be anything interesting, that was until he saw Aomine’s entire posture change unlike he’d seen before.

He watched on, growing more and more amused when he realized it was because Kagami had walked into the store. Imayoshi rolled his eyes as he watched Aomine either passionately pretend to eat an ice cream cone or blatantly fellate an invisible dick. He watched as Kagami and Aomine interacted, nothing out of the ordinary until they leaned towards each other and kissed in a way that was far from innocent or “fake.”

Imayoshi grinned to himself and wondered how long it would take Aomine to realize certain things for himself.

 

* * *

Explicit version of Aomine's first time can be read [here](https://mazzies.tumblr.com/post/162794968333/making-electricity-105-first-time-nsfw).


	11. swept in the current

It was a brand new day. The sun had come out, the smell of fresh cut grass was in the air and all around Aomine the birds chirped their happy songs. He was in a good mood even though it was a Monday and he was on his way to morning practice.

“Why are you in such a good mood?” Satsuki deadpanned as soon as they met up for their walk together. “It’s raining and you don’t have an umbrella.”

Aomine beamed at her but avoided the question. “I love days like these.”

“Liar,” Satsuki huffed, looking up at him from underneath her pale blue umbrella. “You like the blue skies with the big fluffy clouds that look like boobs.”

Though that was true too, Aomine hadn’t lied about it being a kind of day he loved. He really liked mornings where he’d wake up after having spent a long weekend in bed with Kagami. This Monday morning happened to be one of those days and despite the rain and the dark gray clouds overhead Aomine was in good spirits and he was going to make sure he stayed like that all day.

“I’m going to run to school so that I can change and let these clothes dry. See you later,” he said to Satsuki before jogging away, being mindful of the slippery ground.

Once he got to practice not even Wakamatsu’s bad mood could faze him, something that seemed to really irk the captain, thus further encouraging Aomine’s good mood.

“Can you stop grinning like an idiot and bring out the equipment? You didn’t come to just stand around did you?” Wakamatsu scolded as he walked into the equipment room.

Aomine followed him in to help out and was distracted by thoughts of his weekend while Wakamatsu continued to try to make conversation with him.

“Are you in a good mood because we’re playing Seirin later or something?” Wakamatsu said not really looking at Aomine. “It’s creeping me out, this good mood you’re in.”

Aomine was only half listening but he shrugged and agreed that he was only in a good mood because he would get to play against Kagami.

And when Kagami and the rest of Seirin showed up after school Aomine’s good mood turned into a great mood. He stopped his stretching to wander over to Kagami despite the frown on his face and the intimidating aura that surrounded him.

Before he could reach him though, Tetsu stepped in the way.

“Good afternoon, Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said causing Aomine to startle and break away his attention from Kagami to glare at his best friend. “Momoi-san said you’re in a good mood—”

“Later, Tetsu,” Aomine said putting his hand on Tetsu’s head and guiding him to the side so that he could walk up to Kagami and smirk at him smugly.

“What?” Kagami huffed as he stared at Aomine. “Why are you looking at me like that? What do you want?”

“Nothing,” Aomine said innocently. “Just came to say hi.”

Kagami narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously and Aomine continued to smirk at him.

“Oh,” Aomine added as an afterthought. “And I wanted to tell you to get ready to lose. Because I’m about to wipe the floor with your loser-ass.”

“Are you trying to start shit with me, bastard?” Kagami growled as he stepped into Aomine’s personal space. “Because I’ll fuck you up.”

Aomine grinned and turned his head to the side. “I’d rather you just fucked me.”

He laughed at Kagami’s shocked and embarrassed expression and still chuckled to himself as he made his way back to Touou’s side of the court, making sure to shoot Kagami a conspicuous wink from across the way.

Kagami frowned and showed Aomine his middle finger, but instead of offending him it caused Aomine to laugh more. Yes, he was in a great mood. A great mood that Aomine was now pretty sure he could call an excellent mood thanks to Touou’s victory. Even though Kagami had lost he was fired up and had a fierce determination for another game. He looked like he wanted to play against Aomine and Aomine was feeling nice enough to oblige.

“One condition,” he said to Kagami after he had predictably asked for a one-on-one. Both teams were making their way out of the gym. “Win or lose I come home with you tonight.”

Before Kagami could answer, Tetsu piped up. “It’s a weekday, Aomine-kun. You both have school tomorrow and you both missed two days last week for being together.”

The rest of their teammates catcalled and whisper-shouted causing Aomine to feel flustered even though he had been doing a good job of maintaining his smug confidence. He hadn’t thought that the others could hear him.

“Shut up I know that,” Aomine mumbled to Tetsu and then looked at Kagami. “I’ll leave in the morning in time for both of us to get to school.”

“That’s what you said last time,” Kagami said low enough so that only Aomine could hear.

“Well I mean it this time,” Aomine said just as quietly back. “Actually, how ‘bout we skip that one-on-one and head straight to your place?”

Kagami shrugged. “Works for me.”

The next morning Aomine was late to first period but at least he showed up.

* * *

 “—mine-san! A-o-mi-ne-sama!”

Aomine blinked and looked up in surprise to see Imayoshi’s amused expression. “Yes? Sorry, can you repeat that?”

“For the third time,” Imayoshi said with a tight smile and Aomine swallowed because he could hear how annoyed he was. “Inventory, which means you’ll probably be working late hours. You’ll get paid for your time of course, but we need it done as soon as possible with all hands on deck in order to finish as fast as possible.”

Aomine nodded. “Right. I’m available. I can skip practice—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Imayoshi interrupted. “We will be doing it during store hours too. Falling behind isn’t a problem, it’s the getting ahead that we want to focus on.”

“Right,” Aomine answered even though he had absolutely no idea what was going on. He didn’t even know what inventory was.

“Aomine,” Imayoshi said cheerfully. “I can tell you’re completely lost so I’ll worry about the technical stuff okay? You’ll just count the things I tell you and move things around where I tell you to.”

“Kind of like what I do now?” Actually it was almost always what he did at the store every time he had a shift.

“Yes,” Imayoshi nodded. “Exactly. So you have the next three days off in order to get ready for the rush that’s coming. Also try to be nice to my aunt. We’ll be spending a lot of time with her.”

“I’m always nice to old people,” Aomine said with a frown, but didn’t say anything after that. He had the next three days off and he was planning to spend them at Kagami’s.

* * *

Inventory was tedious and extremely frustrating when Imayoshi’s granny kept shifting boxes around and messing up Aomine’s count. And as it turned out, Aomine wasn’t _always_ nice to old people. 

“Dai-chan,” the granny said pleasantly as she wandered into his aisle with her hands folded behind her back. “Did you already count these boxes of strawberries?”

Before Aomine could answer that he’d only counted and stickered about half of the boxes the granny rearranged them all so that Aomine would have to start sorting all over for the third time. He wanted to groan and yell but settled for glaring at her harshly, pressing his hands into his face and sighing loudly. He had yelled at her once before. Well, he’d answered a bit standoffishly and she had looked a little offended. He didn’t care if he was rude and he was starting to think the old lady was doing it on purpose. She was related to Imayoshi after all.

He didn’t answer the old woman as she continued to move the boxes around for no goddamn reason and he stood up to go look for his boss. He found Imayoshi packing up a cart full of carrots. He caught one look at Aomine’s face and held up a hand to stop him.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Imayoshi said before Aomine had even made his way over to him.

“But I haven’t even said—” Aomine started but then glared and spoke up anyway. “Imayoshi-san, your grandma is driving me absolutely batshit crazy. Fire her.”

“First,” Imayoshi said going back to his carrots, almost ignoring Aomine. “She’s not my grandma. She’s my aunt. Second, I can’t fire her. She owns the place.”

It was late and Aomine was tired. He had school the next day and he was patiently waiting for Imayoshi to dismiss him so that he could crawl into his bed and sleep. He rolled his shoulders. “I can’t get any work done.”

Imayoshi didn’t a get a chance to respond because his aunt walked over to them. “Shou-chan, I brought you these sticky notes you had placed in between the aisles. I’ll just leave them here for you.”

Aomine swore he could hear the air crackle around them. Those sticky notes that the granny had brought to Imayoshi were the same sticky notes Imayoshi had placed on the shelves in the aisles to keep his count while they were doing inventory. Aomine wasn’t the only one who would have to start over. He shot Imayoshi a _“Do you see what the fuck I’m talking about?”_ look and felt smug when Imayoshi looked like he was about to start yelling.

“You were always my favorite grandson, Shou-chan,” the granny said patting his cheek and moving towards the back of the store. “I’ll call it a night for today. Don’t forget to lock up the doors, Shou-chan.”

After she left Aomine and Imayoshi stood in silence, feeling the weight of all the work left to do.

“I thought you said she wasn’t your grandma,” Aomine teased, trying to break the tension.

“She’s not,” Imayoshi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “She’s fucking doing it on purpose, I bet.”

Aomine laughed when he heard Imayoshi swear and he helped him put the rest of the carrots onto the cart.

“Go home, Aomine,” Imayoshi said once they finished the task. “It’s late. We’re done for today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Aomine didn’t need to be told twice and he was out of the store almost immediately. He was about to walk towards the train station, but it was late and he’d have to wait a long time for the train because of the late hour so he called Kagami instead.

“Hey,” Kagami said when he answered the phone. There was a lot of background noise and for a second Aomine worried Kagami wouldn’t be home. He’d already started walking there.

“Hey, are you home?” Aomine asked casually. “There’s a lot of noise on your end.”

The line got quiet and then Kagami spoke again. “Yeah, I’m home. Some of the guys came over to do homework so we’re all just hanging out. What’s up?”

“Can I come by?” Aomine asked getting straight to the point.

Kagami hesitated and Aomine’s insides fluttered embarrassingly. He shouldn’t have asked. He should have just shown up.

“Um...I don’t know how late the guys will stay so we probably won’t be able to do anything so I don’t know if you still want to come over,” Kagami said in a rush.

It took Aomine a minute to realize Kagami was referring to having sex with Aomine. His insides fluttered again but this time it was for a different reason. He did want to have sex with Kagami. He always wanted to have sex with Kagami. Sex with Kagami was always on his mind and to do list. Now that he’d gotten used to it he seriously wanted it all the time. Aomine was addicted to Kagami’s body and if it were up to him he’d have Kagami’s hands on him every second, all the time. If it were up to him he’d have his own hands and mouth all over Kagami all day everyday.

“Are you still there?” Kagami’s voice broke Aomine out of his thoughts.

“Yes, I’m here,” Aomine answered. “Actually, that’s fine for me. I’m really tired and I kind of just wanted to crash.” As an afterthought he added, “If that’s okay.”

“Oh,” Kagami breathed. “Yeah that’s fine. Of course. Come over.”

“Great,” Aomine said and then his face felt warm. He’d gotten there embarrassingly quick. “Actually, I’m downstairs. Can you buzz me up?”

He ended the call when the buzzer sounded and when he walked up the stairs Kagami was standing outside the apartment waiting for him.

“You look tired,” he said by way of greeting.

“I feel like I’m going to die,” Aomine exaggerated as he followed Kagami into the apartment.

Kagami’s fellow second year teammates were gathered in the living room and they all greeted Aomine when they saw him.

“Yo,” he said back and lightly thumped Tetsu’s head when he passed him on his way to the kitchen.

Kagami handed him a plate and Aomine helped himself to rice.

“That’s all you’re having?” Kagami asked from where he watched Aomine grab some napkins and head back to the living room. “I have meat too.”

“Not too hungry,” Aomine said truthfully. “I’m mostly tired so I’ll have this and pass out, I think.”

Kagami nodded and pointed to a seat on the couch next to Tetsu. Aomine took the seat and dug into his rice while Kagami settled himself on the floor in front of Aomine’s legs with his back resting against them. Aomine lightly kicked him but Kagami only swatted his leg away.

“Did you already do your homework, Aomine-kun?” Tetsu asked.

Aomine swallowed his food before nodding and answering. “Yes.” Well he’d copy it from Ryo at school the next day.

Kagami leaned back so that his head rested on Aomine’s lap and he was looking up at Aomine’s face upside down. “Do mine.”

“Do you?” Aomine said back with a teasing smirk, pretending he didn’t hear right. Kagami’s face got pink and he frowned and sat up again.

“You’re just copying everyone else’s homework, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said, not letting Aomine have his moment. Aomine grinned when he saw Kagami’s shoulders tense up. “Plus, if Aomine-kun did your homework for you you’d probably still fail.”

“Tetsu, you bastard,” Aomine said good-naturedly. “Shut the fuck up.”

They all turned back to their homework and Aomine stayed with them on the couch for as long as his eyelids held out. He didn’t realize he was half asleep until Kagami shifting back against him and bumping his legs startled him awake. He stretched without standing up and Kagami turned his head to look back at him.

“Alright, I’m out,” Aomine said and nudged Kagami with his foot so that he could scoot away and let him up.

He was about to stand up when Tetsu stopped him with a question. “Aren’t you going to give Kagami-kun a goodnight kiss?”

The other three guys started _ooh_ ing and _aah_ ing and pissing Aomine off. He hoped his face didn’t show he was embarrassed.

“Shut the hell up, Kuroko,” Kagami grumbled and looked away from Aomine. Aomine laughed but leaned forward to kiss the side of Kagami’s face before standing up and heading to the bedroom. He closed the door behind him and threw himself onto Kagami’s bed. He closed his eyes and fell right to sleep.

Aomine woke up again to Kagami’s dark bedroom and a quiet apartment. Kagami was in bed with him and looking at his phone. Aomine was quiet while he waited for sleep to come back to him but when he started feeling more awake instead of sleepy he spoke up.

“What time is it?” he asked, his throat feeling thick.

Kagami yelped and jumped so hard he rolled off the bed. Aomine immediately started laughing.

“What the hell you bastard!” Kagami cried from the floor. “My heart is beating so fast! You couldn’t at least shift or something to let me know you’re awake?”

“Sorry,” Aomine laughed. “How was I supposed to know you’d get so scared?”

He moved over to the edge of the bed and looked down to see Kagami laying on his back and frowning up at the ceiling.

“You going to come back up here or are you going to sleep there for the rest of the night?” Aomine asked with a smirk.

“Shut up,” Kagami shot back but he climbed back into bed. They both lay on their sides facing each other. “It’s about to be two in the morning.”

“Only?” Aomine groaned. “I still have lots of time to sleep. What time did your friends leave?”

“Like half hour after you went to bed,” Kagami yawned and turned onto his back. “You were knocked out when I came in.”

“I’m the complete opposite now,” Aomine complained. “Fix it.”

Aomine propped himself up on his elbow so that he was looking down at Kagami and leaned down to press his lips against his quickly.

“Fix it,” he said again. He leaned down and kissed Kagami again and kept his lips against Kagami’s a bit longer, enjoying the way Kagami’s bottom lip seemed to fit perfectly between his own.

He pulled back to look at him and saw Kagami watching him expectantly, so Aomine licked his lips and leant down to kiss him again, this time moving his lips against Kagami’s to coax him into kissing him back.

There was no tongue, but the kiss was wet and it made Aomine want Kagami even more. He sucked Kagami’s bottom lip into his mouth and pulled at it with his teeth. Kagami inhaled sharply and shifted so that Aomine was lying between his legs and he brought his hands up to Aomine’s sides under his shirt. He shivered when Kagami lightly ran his fingernails down his sides and he pulled back to take off his shirt. As soon as it was off Kagami pulled him down and connected their mouths again in a desperate kiss.

Aomine eased off so that he could tease Kagami’s tongue with his own, and he licked gently, wanting Kagami to crave him. When he pulled back Kagami followed the kiss but Aomine only smirked at him and pulled down Kagami’s pants before undoing his own. They didn’t waste any time after that. Kagami pulled him back down and Aomine bent Kagami’s legs toward his chest.

“Ung, yeah,” Kagami groaned and stretched his arms above his head, letting Aomine rock him.

“You’ll fall asleep like that,” Aomine teased.

Kagami closed his eyes and smirked. “Feels good.”

He opened his eyes again and Aomine moved down to kiss Kagami. Kagami kissed him back and ran his tongue against Aomine’s lips, but didn’t push further than that. Aomine parted his lips to capture both of Kagami’s lips between his own and then pulled back to bite him. Kagami groaned his appreciation and Aomine leaned down to kiss and bite him some more.

He reached between them to grab hold of Kagami and squeezed on him until Kagami leaned his head back and groaned a little louder.

Suddenly and all too familiar the sensation of falling was flooding Aomine like a current.

This was a dream.

It was a dream he didn’t want to wake up from. He wanted to stay wrapped up in Kagami, drowning in his scent, his heat, and the captivating sounds coming from his throat and somewhere deep in his chest.

However Aomine knew he couldn’t fight it. All too familiar his surroundings dissolved and he found himself slowly waking up to the darkness of Kagami’s room. Wait. Kagami’s room. Was Kagami already in bed with him? If Kagami were in bed with him than it wouldn’t matter if Aomine had woken up from his sex dream. If Kagami were there they could be having sex for real.

It turned out that Kagami was in bed with him and when Aomine shot up he scared Kagami so much that he yelped and jumped so hard he rolled off the bed. Aomine laughed more than necessary.

“Shut up it’s not that funny,” Kagami snapped as he got back into bed.

“It is it is,” Aomine continued to laugh. He couldn’t help it. It was his own little inside joke.

“I said it’s not,” Kagami growled and rolled Aomine over and threw one leg over him so that he could straddle him.

Got him.

Aomine stopped laughing, his interest now completely captured by what was on top of him. His hands immediately went to Kagami’s chest underneath his shirt and he sat up to kiss him briefly before pulling back and lifting Kagami’s shirt over his head. He took off his own shirt too and Kagami wrapped his arms around his neck and moved in close so that their chests were nearly pressed tightly against each other.

Aomine brought his hands down and slipped them into Kagami’s pants. He really liked the view when Kagami was sitting on his hips and though this position was good for him too, Aomine was too tired to do much of the work.

“Want to ride?” he asked Kagami and kissed down his neck, hiding and hoping he’d say yes.

“Mmm,” Kagami agreed before nudging Aomine’s head back so that he could kiss him again. “It’s my favorite.”

They kissed again and then Kagami shoved Aomine’s chest so that he laid back and let Kagami undress them. He watched while Kagami prepared himself and then rolled the condom over Aomine. It was his turn to groan and stretch his arms above his head while he watched Kagami move on top of him, looking like he was having the time of his life as he worked to satisfy himself. Aomine kept his hands on every part of him.

This was way better than all of his dreams put together and when it was over and he checked the time he saw that it was two in the morning. He still had a lot of time to sleep.

* * *

They were all back at Kasamatsu’s cabin to celebrate Midorima’s birthday. Well, they were “celebrating Midorima’s birthday” a week early since Takao was going to throw Midorima a party in Tokyo (which Aomine was pretty sure but also hoping he was not going to get invited to) and they were only there because Kasamatsu had business in the neighboring town and he agreed to let all of Kise’s friends tag along (mostly because he wasn’t going to be around the cabin much himself).

Kagami’s captain and coach didn’t come this time, but Akashi did. Aomine and Kagami hadn’t hitched a ride with Kasamatsu this time either, and instead arrived via public transportation and a lot of walking.

Some things were different but Aomine and Kagami still ended up in the broom closet bedroom. And it was all Kagami’s fault. He had fallen for Akashi’s trap to play him one-on-one for a room with a big bed, which Kagami lost right away because he was a careless brute. Aomine couldn’t complain too much, though. While he would have liked a bigger bed, he had an excuse to be close to Kagami again.

This time they would only be at the cabin for a three-day weekend and on the first morning Aomine woke up to find the small room devoid of Kagami. He found him in the kitchen with Himuro making breakfast for them all and he helped himself to coffee so that he had something to drink while he waited for the food. Akashi was the next one to come into the kitchen and he also helped with the cooking while everyone else trickled in either by themselves or in pairs. Everyone took a seat at the table until the food was ready. Aomine was about to get up to help himself to breakfast when Kagami placed a plate right in front of him.

“Oh,” Aomine said in surprise and looked down to see an omelet. Kagami had decorated it by drawing a huge penis on it with ketchup. Aomine stared at it for a few seconds before he looked up at Kagami. “Look, Kagami. It’s you.”

“Bastard!” Kagami snarled, probably pissed off that his insult had backfired. “It’s you!”

Aomine grinned at Kagami, pleased with his reaction. He started eating his breakfast while Kagami took a seat right next to him. There was chatter amongst everyone and Kise suggested that they all go explore the trails around the cabin. Aomine agreed right away and when they were all done having breakfast they all set out to explore the surrounding area. Well, everyone except Kasamatsu who left in the opposite direction to take care of whatever business he had.

It was the middle of the summer and there were a lot of bugs so on their walk Aomine was capturing whatever insect looked interesting and annoying the shit out of Kagami by tossing them at him. After the seventh cicada Kagami picked up a branch that still had leaves on it and swatted Aomine with it, chasing him all around and whacking him with it as payback. Aomine ignored Midorima’s annoyed huffing and laughed the whole time, feeling like a little kid.

When it was nearing the afternoon, Akashi suggested that they had walked far enough and they should probably head back since no one had thought about bringing lunch. Aomine was a little disappointed, but they were going to take a different pathway back so that it still felt like an adventure.

Twenty minutes into the unknown the ten of them came upon a shed, or what looked like a shed. It looked run down, creepy, and Aomine suspected it was abandoned. It didn’t have any windows and only one door.

“Let’s check it out,” Kise said with an excited look on his face. He was already walking towards the shed.

“What if somebody died in there?” Satsuki asked, a little wary and not moving from her spot next to Tetsu.

“Then there will be a ghost,” Tetsu said evenly, like it was no big deal at all, like ghosts were merely kittens. “I’ll go check it out with you, Kise-kun.”

Akashi agreed to go in as well, claiming it looked interesting and since Akashi agreed Murasakibara did as well. Midorima looked annoyed, but when Aomine teased him for being scared of a ghost he also agreed to check out the abandoned shed. Kagami was oddly silent but Aomine didn’t call him out. He already knew that Kagami was afraid of ghosts, even though he liked to pretend otherwise. Besides, Aomine would be right next to him the entire time.

“I’m going to head back,” Himuro said. “I’ll get started on lunch since I’m not really in the mood to walk into a place that looks like a perfect murder site.”

“Eep!” Satsuki squealed and clung to Tetsu. “Maybe we shouldn’t go in.”

“I’m sure it will be fine with nine of us,” Akashi reasoned. “It would have to be one strong murderer or a whole team of them to be able to take us all out at once.” He was speaking casually, like they were discussing a business meeting. “Plus, if they do manage it, Himuro-san is already aware of our location and he’ll be able to contact the authorities. And avenge us.”

“You are one scary bastard,” Kagami muttered to Akashi but Akashi only smiled at him.

“It’ll be eight of you then,” Takao said stepping away from the group and toward Himuro. “Himuro probably shouldn’t go walking back by himself and lunch will be done faster if I help out.”

“Afraid of the murderers?” Aomine teased.

“Of course,” Takao said seriously and then laughed. “I’m not as big as the rest of you so I’d definitely be one of the first targeted.”

Aomine turned to grin evilly at Satsuki and Tetsu. Tetsu had his usual poker face but Satsuki looked more nervous than before. Aomine turned his gaze to Akashi to see him smiling pleasantly at him, as if daring him to make a joke about his height and Aomine quickly looked away.

Nope. He wasn’t going to say a word about it.

Himuro looked amused and he started walking back towards Kasamatsu’s cabin. “Well then I’ll see you all when you get back. Have fun everyone.”

Takao went with him, throwing a cheery wave at them as they left. “Don’t die, Shin-chan!”

They left and the rest of them stood around, sort of waiting for someone to start the adventure.

“Okay,” Kise said calling everyone’s attention. “Aominecchi, you go first.”

“Why me?” Aomine yelled. “You’re the one who wanted to check it out!”

He wasn’t about to go first! What for? To die?! No way! “Murasakibara you go first!”

“Why should I?” Murasakibara argued with a frown.

“Because your looming figure will scare anything that might be inside,” Midorima said pushing up his glasses.

“Then why don’t you go first, Mido-chin?” Murasakibara taunted back. “Your face is enough to scare anything that might be inside and you won’t have to try hard. Just standing there would be enough.”

“Nice,” Aomine grinned, always happy when one or more of them teamed up against Midorima.

“Since you’re all so scared,” Akashi said suddenly and authoritatively. “I’ll go first.”

He walked up to the door and tried pulling it open but it didn’t budge. He tried again and still nothing happened.

“I think you have to push it, Akashi-kun,” Tetsu said after the fourth try of the door not opening.

Akashi didn’t say anything but when he tried pushing the door it cracked open. “It’s really dark.”

“Does anyone have a flashlight?” Tetsu asked the group.

Aomine hadn’t brought his phone and it looked like Kagami, Midorima, Akashi, Tetsu, and Kise had left theirs behind too.

“Cough it up, Kise,” Aomine scolded. “We all know you have like three phones.”

“I only have two because one is a work phone,” Kise argued back. “And I don’t have either of them with me. Stop bullying me, Aominecchi!”

“Here,” Satsuki said turning on the flashlight of her phone. Murasakibara did the same.

Tetsu took Satsuki’s phone and stepped up to the door with Akashi. Murasakibara joined them and when they didn’t see anyone in the shed they walked inside. After a few seconds of silence the rest of them walked in too. Satsuki went after Murasakibara, followed by Midorima and then Aomine and Kagami and Kise went last.

The shed was dark and it smelled like humidity, like rain had seeped through the roof and wet the floor on the inside. It smelled like something was forgotten inside and was left there to rot. It looked like a storage place, though there wasn’t much in there except for a big cabinet in the back corner and unidentifiable stuff on the ground.

“It’s not even exciting,” Kagami said as he looked around. It was too dark to see anything. “And it stinks in here, I’ll go wait outside.”

“Yeah,” Aomine agreed. “Me too this place sucks, no one died here.”

“Maybe somebody did and that’s why it smells so bad,” Kise said in a sinister voice.

“Well then I’m getting the hell out before you find the body,” Aomine said turning toward the door. He walked up to it and reached for the door handle but the door handle wasn’t there.

“Satsuki,” Aomine said. “Shine your light over here, I can’t find the door.”

“Are you dumb?” Satsuki said. “It’s literally right where you’re standing.”

She walked over to him and held her phone up to cast the light on the door, but there was no door. She aimed the light all around but they couldn’t find the door handle.

“What’s taking so long?” Kagami sounded annoyed.

“Ah,” Aomine didn’t know how to break the news to everyone. “I think the door only opens from the outside.”

It was quiet for a few seconds while everyone processed the words that came out of Aomine’s mouth and then there was chaos.

“What do you mean it only opens from the outside!” Kagami yelled.

“How are we supposed to get out?” Murasakibara panicked.

“Oh my god it’s part of a trap!” Satsuki squeaked.

“Help!” Kise started screaming and ran over to bang on the door. “Help! Help! Help!”

“Stop panicking and kick the door down,” Midorima suggested, but he was panicking too.

“That will be hard to do,” Akashi said in a calm voice. “The door opens inward, remember? I don’t know how successful we’ll be if all start beating the walls like wild brutes. We should save our energy in case we’re stuck in here for a few days.”

“Days?!” Aomine exclaimed. He rushed over to Kise and started banging on the door as well. “I’m not trying to stay here for days! Help!”

“Why don’t Momoi-san or Murasakibara-kun try calling someone?” Tetsu suggested.

It was silent for a few seconds again.

“I don’t have any service!” Satsuki finally said. “Not even a little bit!”

“I have service!” Murasakibara cheered. “I’ll call Muro-chin right away so that he can come save us.”

Aomine watched as Murasakibara scrolled through his contacts and just as he was about to press the call button his phone shut down.

“Oh, my phone died,” he said dejectedly.

“You mean we’re going to die in here?!” Kise cried. “But that’s going to be so embarrassing! It’ll go all over the tabloids everywhere that I died such a stupid death!”

“Worry about that when you actually die, dumbass,” Aomine hissed. “Are you _actually_ crying right now? It hasn’t even been ten minutes—”

“Let’s just calm down for a second,” Akashi said in a loud tone that got everyone’s attention.

“Akashi-kun is right,” Tetsu agreed. “There has to be something here that we can use. Momoi-san, can I please borrow your flashlight?”

Satsuki passed Tetsu her phone and Aomine watched while he walked over to the cabinet in the back of the shed. When Tetsu opened the cabinet a skeleton fell out and everybody screamed.

“Dai-chan!” Satsuki screamed from somewhere near him. With the light in the back of the room it was nearly pitch black near the door where Aomine was.

“Um, actually, it’s me,” came Kagami’s voice and he sounded a bit embarrassed. Aomine moved closer to where he thought they were and discovered that Satsuki had thrown her arms around Kagami and practically climbed onto him for protection.

“The skeleton is fake,” Akashi explained. “No need to panic.”

“What do you mean no need to panic?” came Kagami’s angry voice. “We’re locked in a shed that smells like shit! My head hurts already because we keep yelling and I’m fucking starving!”

“If you’d just rationed out all of your meals like a proper human being than you’d be okay right now,” Midorima argued with Kagami. “But since you’re nothing but a jumping wild animal and a basketball idiot, of course it’s only natural that you suffer when things get a little tough.”

“Do you want to fucking start with me right now, Midorima?” Kagami yelled. Aomine was near him and he could tell that he was trying to get Satsuki to stop clinging to him so that he could stomp over to Midorima, but Satsuki wasn’t letting go.

“Please calm down, Kagami-kun,” Tetsu said from near the cabinet. “We just have to wait for Takao-kun or Himuro-san to realize we’ve been gone a long time and they’ll come look for us.”

“This is all Kise’s fault!” Aomine called out suddenly.

“Is not!” Kise defended himself. “No one forced you to participate Aominecchi! You big doofus!”

“You’re all being overdramatic. Especially you, Kagami.” Akashi said. “The only thing left to do is wait it out so we might as well pass the time not panicking.”

“I should have brought some snacks,” Murasakibara said sadly. “Now I’ll starve like Kaga-chin.”

“Alright listen up,” Kagami said suddenly and loudly. “Now that I have the entire Fruit Loop Generation gathered in one place I can finally tell you what I’ve been wanting to say since I met every single one of you bastards: thanks for nothing!”

Everyone started protesting but Kagami only clapped his hands to keep the attention.

“You guys are the most dramatic motherfuckers I have ever met. You guys are seriously some of the weirdest assholes I have ever met.” He paused. “That’s right, I’m talking about you Midorima and Akashi!”

Aomine snickered but stopped when Kagami reeled on him.

“Don’t even get me started on you, Aomine, literally the most biggest asshole I have ever met—”

“You probably shouldn’t say ‘most biggest,’ Kagami-kun,” Tetsu started but Kagami cut him off too.

“Kuroko you little shit, I’ll get to you in a minute,” Kagami growled.

“Don’t call me little,” Tetsu said and Aomine couldn’t help but start laughing.

Kagami was trying to be scary, or maybe he wasn’t trying but Aomine was amused. He liked Kagami like this and he couldn’t wait to get him alone and in bed.

“Pay attention, Gaylord and even gayer minions plus Momoi,” Kagami huffed and Aomine continued to laugh. Kise started laughing too. “I’m not going to wait around for somebody to come save us so we should all do as Akashi is—nicely—telling us to do and get our shit together and bust this damn door down!”

“I literally said we should just wait until somebody comes,” Akashi said. “I don’t know how you interpreted my instructions as ‘bust the damn door down’—”

Akashi stopped talking when the door to the shed suddenly opened and Takao’s voice joined the commotion.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked, sounding utterly confused.

They all rushed him to get outside and once Takao realized what had happened he burst into a fit of laughter.

“Of course that would happen,” he said with tears in his eyes. “Kagami, were you seriously going to bust the door down?”

“Shut up,” Kagami threw out. “Ugh, I smell so bad, like that stupid shed. I’m going to take a shower.”

He started walking back and Aomine followed.

“I’ll join you,” Aomine said, not bothering to keep his tone hushed.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Kagami was still all fired up. “I’m not skipping lunch so if you make me miss it I’ll eat your ass instead.”

Aomine immediately stopped walking and tried very, very hard not to laugh until Kagami realized what he said. He couldn’t help it though, not when Kagami turned to face him with wide eyes and a bright red face. 

“You—shut up! You know that’s not what I meant!” Kagami said quickly as Aomine laughed loud and hard. “I meant—Argh! Just shut up!”

* * *

It rained that evening and all night. That’s why Takao had come back to the shed, to tell them that they should probably head back to the cabin for shelter. They all spent the rest of the day inside, either hanging out together or in their own rooms.

Aomine and Kagami spent the rest of the day with each other in bed, only coming out for food. Aomine was having too much fun memorizing the lines of Kagami’s body and the places that made him cry out.

He missed having Kagami inside him and when Kagami topped that night he was still fired up from all of his yelling at the shed so that he was unrelenting and Aomine was drowning in a new kind of pleasure. It was different than last time when it ended, since this time he was sore in new places and covered in more sweat.

It was satisfying and he felt like he couldn’t move without having small bursts of pleasure course through his veins. Kagami was laying down right next to him, now looking a lot more calm and Aomine couldn’t help but move closer to him and nuzzle his face into his neck. Kagami wrapped an arm around him and rolled them over so that he was lying right on top of Aomine.

“You’ve been holding out on me,” Aomine murmured to him with a smirk.

“I couldn’t fuck you like that the first time,” Kagami croaked. “What if you hated it and never wanted to do it again.”

It wasn’t a question and Aomine wriggled underneath him to get a little more comfortable. They were probably going to fall asleep like that.

“I definitely didn’t hate it,” Aomine told Kagami and then put his hands into Kagami’s hair so that he could pull his head up. “Kiss me.”

* * *

It was raining on their last day at the cabin too. It was supposed to stop by the evening, but the dark sky outside made for such cozy weather and atmosphere inside that Aomine and Kagami decided to spend the day in bed again. The sound of the rain pattering against the window and side of the cabin went perfect with the sound of Kagami’s moans as Aomine rocked into him over and over.

Kagami was laying on his front, head resting on a pillow while Aomine moved on top of him, watching Kagami’s face contort in frowns of pleasure. Aomine liked it like this, him giving it to Kagami with Kagami lifting his hips to meet Aomine’s thrusts. And whenever he lifted his head to ask for a kiss Aomine was right there to give it to him, whatever he asked for.

* * *

When it finally stopped raining Kasamatsu brought out some dry firewood that he’d kept in the shed where they’d gotten locked in and they sat around a small campfire. They weren’t telling scary stories this time but instead talking about basketball. They argued over who the better players in the NBA were, where they would end up, etc.

Surprisingly, it fired Murasakibara up and he sat up straight and declared, “I want to have a serious game of basketball. Who wants to play me?”

Immediately Aomine and Kagami stood up and said at the same time, “I will.”

Kagami turned to him. “I said I would so I will. Sit back down, Aomine.”

Aomine frowned. “No, says who it gets to be you? I haven’t played Murasakibara in a long time and if he’s serious it could be more fun than playing you. I want to test it.”

“That’s why I want to play him!” Kagami yelled. “Murasakibara let’s go!”

“Shut up, Kagami!” Aomine argued. “I’ll play him!”

“Why don’t you have Atsushi choose?” Himuro tried to reason. “Since he’s the one who wants to play so bad.”

Aomine didn’t want to say that he and Kagami both also wanted to play “so bad.”

“Mmm,” Murasakibara groaned thoughtfully. “Then if it’s like that the one I want to crush more is Kaga-chin.”

“Fuck!” Aomine complained while Kagami grinned triumphantly. “I want to play!”

“Can’t you all play together?” Satsuki suggested.

Murasakibara sat back down. “If it’s two on one that will be either too easy or too hard and boring. I won’t play.”

“Don’t listen to them, Murasakibara,” Kagami said as if he were speaking to a child. “Come on, let’s just go play. Just me and you.”

That pissed Aomine off. “Two on two, then.” Ideally it would be better to have three on three but Aomine just wanted to play, either way. And he hated how Kagami said “just me and you” to Murasakibara. It was wrong, wrong, wrong.

“I’ll play—” Kise started but Murasakibara, Kagami and Aomine all shut him down at the same time.

“No thanks.”

Kise sat back down dejectedly and muttered dramatically about being excluded all the time. It wasn’t true at all, and Aomine actually really liked playing with or against Kise.

“It can’t be helped,” Midorima said standing up. “I’ll play.”

“That works,” Kagami said. “As much as it pains me to say this, Midorima I’ll be on your team.”

“Is it because you want to play against me, Kagami?” Aomine asked smugly. He was glad that he’d get to play against Kagami, even if he did want to play against Murasakibara too. If he were playing Kagami then that was way more than fine.

“No,” Kagami said tautly. “It’s because you’re a horrible fucking teammate and I hate you.”

Aomine laughed. “Whatever. Midorima!” Midorima wasn’t bad to go up against either, but Aomine had a rule. “No three pointers.”

“As if that’s something tragic to me. I’ll defeat you both even without three point shots.”

“That’s my line,” Kagami growled, all fired up. “Are we going to play or just stand around talking like a bunch of pansies?”

“Bring it on, bastard!” Aomine said with a wide smile.

They started the game and when Midorima and Kagami were the first to score ten points the game ended with them as the victors. Kagami was insufferable and Murasakibara was too, for a different reason than Kagami. He was being a sore loser but instead of proclaiming his hate for the game he wanted a rematch. The others wanted to play too so they started the second game with new teams. The night was young and Aomine knew he wasn’t going to go straight to bed this night either, and the next day they’d all be back to their normal daily schedules but Aomine was having fun and he couldn’t imagine being without Kagami like this.

 

 


	12. Aomine's inner monologue

Aomine was squished into the far side of a booth and apart from his muscles cramping up, he was steadily losing his patience and growing more pissed off at the people accompanying him. Midorima and Murasakibara were in the same side of the booth as him looking just as miserable as Aomine felt, and across from them looking comfortable were Kise, Akashi, and Tetsu. Satsuki was sitting in a chair at the end of the table, looking completely at ease as she ate her dessert with an almost wistful look on her face, entirely oblivious to the growing tension on the one side of the booth.

“Murasakibara, scoot the fuck over,” Aomine hissed, finally at his breaking point when Murasakibara had shifted a little too close to him. “Nobody fucking told me we were all going to be here! I would have stayed home.”

Tetsu had texted him earlier in the day with lunch plans that Aomine had only agreed to because he thought it would be a private affair. Watching the rest of his peers arrive one by one to squeeze themselves in the too small booth was like witnessing a full frontal he never asked for.

It left a bad taste in his mouth to say the least.

“Can’t move, Mine-chin. Mido-chin is hogging up all of the space,” Murasakibara growled back as he glared at Midorima.

Across from them, Kise, Akashi and Tetsu were having their own conversation, lacking concern for the strife happening before them.

“I would be hogging up the space if there were even space to hog,” Midorima snapped back, accidentally elbowing Murasakibara as he tried to get settled in. “Stop shoving me, I’ll fall out of the booth!”

“I don’t see how that’s a bad thing,” Aomine quipped back and then turned his angry eyes towards the three people sitting across from him. “We all finished eating, can we get the hell out of here already?”

“I didn’t come all this way just to eat lunch in your presence,” Midorima answered. “Akashi, what’s the reason you called us all here?”

Aomine wanted to scream, maybe even cry from the frustration of having to endure more time with the annoying people other people considered to be his friends. If Akashi had called them out then they were in for some kind of long-winded conversation about something—probably something stupid.

At Midorima’s question Akashi turned his attention away from Tetsu to look at them.

“Ideally I would have liked to have this conversation at Midorima’s party, but Aomine disappeared shortly after arriving so that’s why I asked Momoi to help set up this lunch date,” Akashi explained unnecessarily.

“You couldn’t have picked a bigger fucking table,” Aomine grumbled under his breath, trying his best not to interrupt in order to get the hell out of there quicker. He had plans with Kagami and he was looking forward to stretching out his limbs and losing all his stress on the court. Or Kagami’s bed. Whichever came first.

“Technically, Aominecchi, you and Kurokocchi were the first to arrive and you picked this table. Which isn’t small at all, by the way. It’s a good size,” Kise said and winked at him. Kise actually _winked_ at him and Aomine flipped him off, but before he could verbally tell him to go fuck himself Akashi spoke up again.

“Like I said, Aomine left Midorima’s party early—”

“You fuckin’ bet I did!” Aomine stated. His patience was gone. He wanted out. “Why was I going to stay there? It’s not like Midorima cared anyway—”

“You’re right,” Midorima interrupted. “You leaving after only five minutes was the best part of the night.”

“Mido-chin, you really need to scoot over,” Murasakibara said but before anyone could start that argument again Tetsu changed the subject.

“Aomine-kun, are you planning anything for Kagami-kun’s birthday?”

That got Aomine’s attention. He wasn’t even sure of the exact date of Kagami’s birthday.

“No concrete plans yet,” Aomine answered and avoided Tetsu’s gaze. He looked at Satsuki to see her smiling at all of them and he sent a frown her way. “Aren’t you going to say anything, Satsuki?”

“It’s nice to be here with everyone, isn’t it?” she said cheerfully and Aomine wanted to scream.

“Quit deflecting, Aominecchi!” Kise scolded. “Besides Akashicchi didn’t even call us all here so we could talk about Kagamicchi’s birthday! We have something else important to say about your relationship.”

Aomine rolled his eyes in a way to make sure everyone at the table saw. “This about it being fake again? Or are you going to tell me again how I’m pretending to be gay or whatever the fuck?”

“You are gay. There’s no denying it,” Kise said seriously and Aomine grit his teeth.

“Why do I feel like you’re insulting me? Kise, you bastard—”

“That’s not why we’re here,” Akashi started. “Aomine, we will admit that in the beginning we were curious to see if you and Kagami would make a good match.”

Aomine scoffed. “Yeah, we already figured that one out. With your elaborate and lame plans—which didn’t work by the way. Thanks anyway. Actually, no, not thanks. More like f—”

“Now we’re wondering if it is a good match after all,” Akashi finished as if Aomine had never interrupted. It got Aomine to stop talking and he looked at Akashi for a long time before he turned to look at everyone else.

They were all silent as they watched him and Aomine wondered if this was some kind of trap that would have him admitting that they had been right about him and Kagami the whole time.

“Excuse me?” Aomine finally said, an edge to his voice. “I don’t remember my relationship being any of your business.” He was tired of constantly having this conversation.

“It is if it gets in the way of your friends,” Kise answered like he was reading from a script. Bastard probably knew what Aomine would say down to the last letter.

“So what, this is an intervention?” Aomine was annoyed that these assholes thought they had the right to meddle in business that didn’t concern them. “What, you want me to break up with Kagami now or something?”

The thought had him feeling strange. Months ago he would have jumped at the chance. It was a great excuse; that his friends didn’t approve of his and Kagami’s relationship and that they were right in believing they were better off as friends.

Months ago he wouldn’t have argued against it but now the only thing that came with the thought was never being intimate with Kagami again, never having sex with him again, never staying over late or skipping school to stay in bed with him. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea at all and he realized he needed to come to terms with what that meant.

“You don’t hang out with us as often as you used to, Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said by way of explaining. “We think Kagami-kun has been taking up too much of your time.”

Aomine’s thoughts immediately sidetracked to all the times he turned down any offers or invitations to do anything besides spend time with Kagami. Sure he had been spending most of his free time with him, but why did that have to be a bad thing?

“You forget I never liked hanging out with you in the first place,” Aomine argued back weakly.

“Dai-chan,” Satsuki said gently. “We think you’ve been distancing yourself from us and we really just want to figure out why.” Aomine could hear what she was saying, but it was like it was taking extra effort to decode the words. “We don’t want you and Kagamin to break up! On the contrary we really support your relationship, but after realizing how you two were the time at Kasamatsu-san’s cabin, we think that maybe you need to spend a little more time with the rest of us, too. I mean, we hardly saw you that time and it was supposed to be a friends trip, not a romantic getaway.”

“Right,” Aomine replied only because he had nothing else to say.

“Muro-chin says the same about Kaga-chin,” Murasakibara said. “He gets annoying about it, so I thought it would be a good idea to tell Mine-chin to share a little. So I don’t have to hear about it.”

“Right,” Aomine said again.

“It’s perfectly normal,” Akashi began to lecture but Aomine had had enough. He roughly shoved Murasakibara hard enough to get Midorima out of the booth and he didn’t stop shoving until Murasakibara was forced to exit as well.

“Right,” Aomine said for the third time. “Well, I’ve just about had enough of you bastards, so I’m leaving. Leave me the hell alone with your stupid meddling and dumbass interventions. Stay out of my business!”

“Aominecchi let us know what you plan for your boyfriend’s birthday!” Kise called after him as he made his way out of the restaurant. “And don’t be a stranger!”

Aomine didn’t even turn around and he tried his hardest to ignore the way his insides clenched at the word _boyfriend._

* * *

“Feeling better?” Kagami asked from where he lay next to Aomine. They were naked and the breeze from the air conditioner was drying the sweat on their skin, forming goosebumps on Kagami’s skin that Aomine couldn’t help but trace with his fingers. He widened the range of his touch when Kagami shivered.

“What?” Aomine asked distractedly. After leaving the restaurant Aomine had walked straight to Kagami’s place, ignoring the thoughts that his not-friends-anymore had planted in his head. He felt less stressed after exerting himself with Kagami, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what everyone had told him at the restaurant. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Did you have a fight with someone?” Kagami asked as he scooted closer to Aomine’s side. “I can tell something’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Aomine answered and leaned down to press his lips to the curve of Kagami’s neck, near his shoulder. He bit down and grinned when Kagami hissed and shoved him away.

He didn’t know why he was keeping the “intervention” to himself, but the more he thought about it the more he realized he didn’t want Kagami to know. As far as Kagami was concerned this was still a fake relationship, albeit with certain benefits, and Aomine didn’t want to give Kagami the chance to opt out. Not yet.

“Kagami,” Aomine began instead in order to steer the conversation away from things he wasn’t yet ready to talk about. “When’s your birthday?”

“Hmm,” Kagami answered, probably seeing right through Aomine but also deciding to humor him. “Tomorrow.”

“What?!” Aomine cried out in surprise. He sat back a bit to glare at him. “Seriously? Why didn’t you tell me! Everyone’s expecting me to plan something—”

He stopped talking and glared harder when Kagami burst into laughter.

“You fucking with me?” Aomine tried to growl but Kagami’s laugh was contagious and he couldn’t help but grin.

“Shoulda seen your face,” Kagami laughed. “You’re so dumb, Aomine.”

“You’re the last person I want to hear that from,” Aomine snapped and jabbed Kagami in the ribs with two of his fingers but instead of angering Kagami it only made him laugh more. He jabbed him again, enjoying the way Kagami’s body jumped and twitched to try to get away. “Tell me when your birthday is!”

“Or what?” Kagami continued to laugh.

“Or I’ll torture you until I get the information I need to carry out the mission,” Aomine said seriously.

“You’re a dork,” Kagami snorted. “But I’ll never tell you—ah!”

Aomine surprised Kagami by continuously jabbing him in his sides and skirting his fingers down the lengths of his torso. He hadn’t forgotten that Kagami was ticklish and he was finally ready to use it to his full advantage. Aomine grinned and laughed as Kagami rolled around in desperation, his laughter coming out in huffs as Aomine continued with his tickling assault.

“Okay!” Kagami gasped. “Fuck off! I’ll tell you!”

Aomine eased off and slowly Kagami’s laughter ebbed away until he was panting underneath Aomine. He looked up at him and Aomine felt another spark of arousal. He moved even closer to Kagami, his heart stuttering a bit when Kagami’s thighs fell apart a little wider to make more room for Aomine.

“August second,” Kagami finally stated, his cheeks tinted in pink that Aomine had somehow gotten used to but he didn’t comment on it. He was too busy trying to ignore how perfectly he fit between Kagami’s legs.

* * *

The bell rang signaling the end of class and Aomine gathered his things to leave. Before he could make it a step away from his seat, however, his teacher called him back.

“A word please, Aomine-kun.”

Aomine felt the familiar dread that came from getting scolded by a teacher and he hoped with all of his might that he hadn’t forgotten an important assignment.

“How is your club activity going? Basketball must take up a lot of your time, huh?” she said to him, gently too, so Aomine let out a breath. It didn’t seem like he was in trouble but he still kept his guard up.

“Yeah,” Aomine answered. “We have practice in the mornings and afternoons every day except Sundays.” He failed to mention how he would only go to about half of them, though since Kagami happened to him he had made more of an effort to attend practice more often.

There he was again, thinking about Kagami.

“Is basketball getting in the way of your studies?” his teacher asked him, causing Aomine to tense up.

“Am I failing?” Aomine asked, trying to sound nonchalant and not at all like he was dreading the answer. If he was failing then Wakamatsu would bench him and Kagami would never let him live it down.

Kagami. _Again._

“You’re not failing,” his teacher said and Aomine sighed in relief. “But I can’t help but notice that you seem distracted in class. Your work is passing, but I feel as if you’re not really applying yourself. Take this as a warning, if you will, Aomine-kun. I know you can do better so I’d like to see you do better. Also, stop skipping my class or I will fail you.”

“Yes ma’am,” he answered, hating that he’d been lectured for being distracted in class of all things. Usually his teachers would get on his ass for sleeping during class, but _being distracted?_

“You can go now, Aomine-kun,” his teacher said and then flashed him a knowing smile. “Remember, girls are fun now but it’s important to find a balance between your leisure time and your studies. If you can’t prioritize one over the other at least learn how to better manage your time.”

Aomine nodded and left before she could think of anything else to lecture him about.

His thoughts were swirling.

Was it that obvious that he had only one thing on his mind?

* * *

He was on his way out, away from Touou and afternoon practice when he looked up and saw Kagami walk through the gates of the school. Aomine wracked his brains trying to remember if he had made plans with him but he kept drawing blanks, even as Kagami finally approached him.

“Uh,” Aomine mumbled, not really knowing what to say in case he had made plans with Kagami and forgotten all about them. He sort of hoped he did, so he could prove everyone (and himself) wrong about drowning himself in endless thoughts of Kagami.

“I was going to text you,” Kagami said with one hand behind his neck, a gesture Aomine learned he did when he was nervous or anxious about something. “But I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to hang out. I came to see a friend.”

A friend. Kagami had another friend at Touou. For a minute Aomine had no idea who he was talking about until he realized he was standing next to the sign that pointed to the direction of the girl’s volleyball gym.

Kagami had come to see the girl he used to sleep with before he started sleeping with Aomine. Aomine tried to pretend the news didn’t affect him but all his thoughts were now consumed with the question of whether or not Kagami had still been sleeping with her this whole time.

Aomine didn’t want to ask, even though he didn’t think Kagami would have lied to him about being monogamous, something inside him twisted in a cruel way that told him he would be wrong about what he thought if he asked.

“She has a game,” Kagami explained. “My friend. And I told her I’d come way back when I used to still…hang out with her and she texted me about it so it felt weird not coming out.”

“Right,” Aomine said and slung his bag higher on his shoulder for something to do. “Well, have fun with that—”

“Aomine, she’s just a friend,” Kagami explained quickly.

“No, yeah, right,” Aomine agreed, his insecurities making him harsher than he wanted to be, but he couldn’t help it. If there was one thing he never learned it was how to deal with his emotions. “Kind of like how you and I are friends.”

Kagami’s head snapped back but he didn’t back down. “No, nothing like that. She and I don’t…we haven’t since—”

“Kagami it’s fine,” Aomine said. “Whatever you want to do with your life, it’s all good. It’s not like you and I are in a real relationship anyway, we don’t owe each other anything. It’s just fun, right?”

The second he said he wished he could take it back. Kagami’s arms fell to his sides and he looked at Aomine with a confused look before changing his expression to one of defiance.

“Right,” Kagami said. “Fun. It’s fun. Like how she and I had fun.”

Aomine tried his hardest not to wince and though he felt cold at the words Kagami spoke, he didn’t have anything to say about it. He sort of asked for that one.

“Well like I said, have fun. Enjoy the game—”

He had started to walk away but Kagami tugged on his shirt to get him to stop. Aomine turned around, waiting for him to say something, anything about how stupid they were acting, how obvious it was that Aomine was annoyed by Kagami’s friendship with the girl, but he didn’t. Aomine had no say in it anyway. Who was he to stand in the way of Kagami’s decisions?

“Show me the way?” Kagami asked him and they both pretended they didn’t see the sign that pointed in the direction. Aomine didn’t have the heart to deny him.

“Yeah of course,” Aomine answered him. “It’s this way.”

He believed Kagami when he said he hadn’t hooked up with his friend in a long time, but that still didn’t stop Aomine from feeling bothered that he had no idea he even still talked to her.

What else didn’t he know about Kagami? Did he still hang out with her too? How come Aomine was the only one who was obsessing over Kagami while Kagami probably had a million and one other things to think about besides Aomine?

“You should stay for the game too,” Kagami said as they neared the gym.

“Sure,” Aomine said before he realized what he was saying and before he could take it back Kagami was shoving his bag into Aomine’s arms.

“Great,” Kagami said. “Wait here for me, okay? Which way to the bathrooms?”

“Down the hall on the right,” Aomine answered. “Can’t you take this stuff with you?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Kagami answered with a shrug. “But then you might leave so don’t go anywhere, okay? I’ll be pissed off if you do.”

“Alright, just go already,” Aomine said and couldn’t help but feel happy that Kagami wanted him to stay.

He watched Kagami disappear into the bathroom and then leaned against the wall to wait for him. He had been standing there fifteen seconds before the girl’s volleyball team arrived, and even though he didn’t know any of the girls he still replied to them when they greeted him by name.

The last person to walk by him was Kagami’s friend and she stopped in front of him and gave him a shy smile.

“Taiga’s boyfriend here can only mean that Taiga didn’t lie to me when he said he was coming, right?” she said, completely surprising Aomine.

She was on first name basis with Kagami and Aomine couldn’t even get his name right on his tongue. _Fuck._

“Right,” Aomine said and for once did not feel bad about his RBF and occasionally rude sounding voice. He had no right to be annoyed by her but he was.

She seemed to notice.

“Aomine-san,” she said. “Taiga is just my friend. I’m sorry about that one time at his apartment—”

“Two times,” Aomine interrupted, but hey, who was counting.

She blushed. “I’m sorry about those two times…I never meant any trouble. I didn’t know you were together at the time, otherwise I wouldn’t have shown up at all.”

Aomine gave her an incredulous look, but didn’t really want to mention that he knew about her boyfriend.

Her blushed deepened and he almost felt bad. “When I first met Taiga…I didn’t think that my feelings for him would develop into, well, anything. He was my stress relief when I first broke up with my boyfriend—”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Aomine said quickly, trying to spare them both the monologue and the embarrassment.

“But I feel like I do,” she continued. “I admit I wasn’t very nice to either Taiga or my boyfriend…but I didn’t think I would want Taiga more than once.”

Okay, now Aomine was getting pissed.

She seemed to notice this too.

“No, wait,” she said, her face bright red now that Aomine was starting to get embarrassed too. “When my boyfriend and I worked things out…I wasn’t ready to stop seeing Taiga. It doesn’t excuse my actions at all, but there’s just something about Taiga that made me feel…almost crazed about him.”

Aomine couldn’t breathe. Was she about to explain to him his own feelings for Kagami?

“He was really good at making me feel special, like all of his attention was constantly focused on me. I got addicted to it.”

Yes, yes she was going to explain to him his own feelings for Kagami.

“Well maybe that’s a strong word,” she laughed shortly and then cleared her throat. “What I’m trying to say, Aomine-san, is that before anything Taiga is my friend. But even I could tell that he was mostly doing me favors. It’s obvious that I’m not what he wants, but I didn’t need to tell you that right?”

She smiled at him and Aomine felt his tense shoulders relax. Why did talking to her make him feel both better and worse at the same time?

“Thank you for coming to the game with him, Aomine-san! I’ll be sure to go to your games too.”

With that Aomine watched the girl—whose name he still did not know—walk into the gym. A second after that Kagami walked up to him and took his bag back.

“You’re still here,” Kagami sounded relieved. “I was sure you’d leave while I was in there.”

Aomine stared at him for a few seconds as he stood there, completely oblivious to the conversation Aomine had just had. Well really, he’d just stood there while Kagami’s friend went on to give him an explanation he’s still not sure he wanted.

“Yeah,” Aomine said. “Okay, well, go pick the seats. You’re the one who wants to watch.”

Kagami frowned. “If you don’t want to stay you don’t have to.”

Aomine wanted to be petty and tell him _FINE_ and walk the fuck out, but he wanted to be mature like Kagami’s friend.

“Well I already walked all the way over here so let’s just go inside already.”

Well as mature as he could be, anyway.

Kagami glared at him but walked into the gym, muttering something that sounded a lot like “the fuck crawled up your ass, asshole.”

“ _Your asshole,”_ Aomine snarled back even though it made no sense at all. He didn’t know how to swear when he was pissed off and annoyed but he didn’t want to walk away from Kagami yet.

They found their seats in the gym and just as the game was about to start Aomine felt a tap on his shoulder.

There was a cute girl staring at him with a blush so bright Aomine wondered if she was choking.

“Aomine-kun,” she said, then paused and Aomine was about to ask her if she was okay when she started speaking again. “I like you.”

That definitely caught him by surprise. He couldn’t remember if he had ever seen her before, and though it wasn’t the first time someone had confessed their affection for him, it was the first time someone was doing it in person. To his face. He was used to anonymous letters in his locker, not this.

“Um,” he didn’t know what to say, having never practiced in his head for this type of scenario. “Thanks.”

Beside him Kagami snorted but Aomine didn’t even glance at him.

“Please accept this,” she said handing him a small container of what looked like cookies with a piece of paper tied to the top. “It’s my number. Call me sometime. Or text me. Whichever. If you want.”

For a few seconds Aomine just stared at what she was offering him, still not really believing this was happening. He’d always wanted it but now that it was actually happening to him he felt awkward.

And Kagami was—

Kagami was reaching over to accept the offering on Aomine’s behalf. “He’d love to.”

Aomine immediately turned to look at Kagami, but Kagami wasn’t looking at him. By the time Aomine turned back to the girl she was already gone.

“Why’d you do that?” Aomine asked.

“It’s not like you and I are in a real relationship anyway,” Kagami threw Aomine’s words right back in his face. “Besides, isn’t she your type? Long hair, big boobs. Seems nice.”

“Hmm,” Aomine hummed. He took the container from Kagami’s hands and shoved it in his bag just as the game started.

When it was over and he and Kagami had gone to their own homes Aomine mulled over the days events. He tried and tried to figure out what his deal was with Kagami, what he wanted from him, what Kagami wanted from him but thoughts of Kagami just made him feel lonely.

When Kagami texted him that night Aomine turned off his phone and went to sleep.

The other thing he was good at besides basketball was running away.

* * *

“Satsuki!” Aomine yelled as soon as he let himself into her house and barged right up to her room. “Satsuki I need you!”

He was in crisis mode, completely fed up with himself for repeating his thoughts about Kagami, Kagami’s friend, and the new number he had received the day before, that he needed Satsuki to solve all of his problems.

She would know what to do. She always knew what to do.

He just had to figure out a way to tell her without actually telling her what the problem was.

“Satsuki—” he called loudly as he opened her door without knocking.

It had opened just a crack and he was barely inside before a pair of heels came flying at him with lightning speed. Aomine quickly shut the door in order avoid getting stabbed in the face and he heard the shoes clunk to the floor before Satsuki started screaming at him about how stupid he was.

It took him about three seconds to realize she had been naked and that’s why she had panicked.

“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking you idiot?!” Satsuki continued to yell at him at the top of her voice through the door. “You better not have seen anything!”

“I don’t care about that!” Aomine argued.

“I don’t care what you care about!” Satsuki yelled back. “I don’t want to help you now! Go away!”

“But Satsuki—”

“Leave me alone!”

Aomine groaned. “Fine. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

“Go to your own house!” Satsuki called back through the door.

Aomine stood outside for a few seconds longer before he decided to tease her a little bit and he grinned.

“Hey Satsuki, do you dye your hair pink?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

* * *

It had been four days since he had talked to Kagami and a day and a half since he had chickened out of talking to Satsuki about all of his problems.

He had been spending most of his free time sleeping and he was in the middle of a nap when his phone rang and woke him up.

Ryo was calling.

“Hello?” Aomine answered the call with his voice thick with sleep.

“Aomine?” Ryo’s apologetic tone came through the phone. “Did I wake you? Sorry, it’s just, tonight is the art gallery and you said you’d come but—”

Aomine immediately sat up in bed. Sometime ago, weeks or months, he didn’t know, Ryo had invited him to his art show and Aomine had agreed to go.

With all of his thoughts on Kagami, Aomine had forgotten all about it. He felt like shit.

“Shit that was tonight,” Aomine said and got up right away, looking for his shoes. “Ryo, I’m on my way!”

Before Ryo could answer with apologies Aomine ended the call and left his house and headed straight for the school. There would be traffic but he had to make sure to make it on time.

The whole way there he couldn’t stop feeling like the world’s biggest asshole. Ryo was his friend too, how could he have forgotten about him? All because he was too preoccupied with thoughts of Kagami?

Kagami didn’t forget about his friends, Aomine already knew that. Did Kagami even think about Aomine as much as Aomine thought about him?

He put those thoughts on hold for what felt like the billionth time and he walked into the building to find that the art show was still in motion.

He quickly found Ryo and made his way over to him.

“Ryo, hi,” he said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to forget.”

“It’s okay,” Ryo answered. “If anything I’m sorry. I told you so long ago and didn’t remind you—”

“No, I should have remembered. Sorry, Ryo,” Aomine cut him off and then changed the subject. “So you’re actually an artist, huh?”

Ryo showed him everything he had on display and Aomine asked questions about the art when it was appropriate. Aomine was surprised to learn that Ryo was a fantastic artist. Aomine was enjoying his time at the gallery and vowed that from then on he would pay more attention to his friends, starting with Ryo.

Aomine stayed until the art show ended, even though Ryo told him over and over that he didn’t need to stay the whole time. Once the room for the gallery had been locked up Aomine and Ryo headed home together.

It was one of those summer nights where the breeze made it chilly and when Aomine saw Ryo shiver he still felt bad for forgetting about the art show that he threw his jacket at Ryo before Ryo could protest against it. They continued to walk in silence and just when Aomine thought about something to talk about it he noticed the blush on Ryo’s face.

For a second he worried that Ryo liked him as more than just a friend and his heart skipped a beat when Ryo said, “My jacket smells like Aomine.”

Aomine’s breath stalled completely and he hoped this was a misunderstanding. “Shit I’m sorry.”

“No it’s okay, I like it,” Ryo said and then sensed the tension and panicked. “Ah?? That sounded romantic didn’t it?! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it romantically! I was just happy that you came out tonight! Aomine, I’m sorry! I don’t like boys! Ah, wait, I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that—”

Aomine couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay,” he said and then without thinking much about it added, “I already have someone I like.”

Ryo was quiet for a few seconds and when Aomine looked up at him he noticed that he was smiling at Aomine. “It’s Kagami-kun isn’t it?”

Aomine took a deep breath and then let out a long sigh. “Yeah.”

“You don’t sound too happy about it, Aomine-san,” Ryo said.

“Yeah well, it’s complicated,” he said back as he kicked a pebble down the road they were walking down.

He was itching to have this conversation, but at the same time he wanted to put it off for as long as he could, or at least talk to Kagami about it before he discussed his issues with anyone else.

He knew Ryo would help out, hear him out if that’s all Aomine needed, but just thinking about Kagami had Aomine feeling tired. He was afraid that he liked Kagami more than Kagami liked him, and normally it wouldn’t be such a big deal to him but he was afraid it was a problem since Kagami seemed to be all Aomine could think about.

He needed a break from Kagami—to sort out his thoughts about it, and leaving things open ended the way he always did by never fucking texting back was never going to solve anything.

As they made it to the train station and Ryo returned Aomine’s jacket before getting on his own train Aomine came to the decision that the following day he would finally talk to Kagami. He even texted him so that he couldn’t back out, knowing Kagami would call him out personally if he failed to show up.

_Free tomorrow? Lets meet up._

* * *

Aomine was nervous.

He couldn’t remember the last time he was this nervous, but he was sure it was another instance that involved Kagami.

Kagami hadn’t shown up yet to their meeting and though Aomine had practiced everything he would say he was worried he would mess up his words and nothing he wanted to say would come out right.

Fuck.

He looked up and he could see Kagami.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Kagami was getting closer and Aomine changed his mind. He didn’t want to talk to Kagami anymore.

Fuck fuck _fuck._

Okay, that was fine. He’d just tell Kagami to forget it. He’d apologize for calling him out and then tell him to forget it since he already knew he would mess up anything he tried to say.

Forget it.

No, _fuck._

Fuck it.

No, _forget it._

“So what’s up?” Kagami asked as soon as he was standing in front of Aomine.

“Fuglet,” Aomine said because he panicked. _He fucking panicked!_

Kagami raised an eyebrow and looked ready to make fun of him but Aomine didn’t give him the chance.

“I think we should end this,” Aomine said abruptly.

Kagami looked surprised. “Huh? Did I do something wrong?”

Guilt flooded every little bit of Aomine’s being. “No, I just don’t want to do this anymore. I think continuing with it is a bad idea.”

Kagami looked at him without saying anything. “…Again, is it something I did or didn’t do?”

“No, it’s not you—” Aomine tried to explain but so far it was all coming out wrong. He wanted to stop the fake relationship, he didn’t want to stop whatever real thing he had with Kagami but he didn’t know how to backtrack. “Look, if we keep up the fake relationship I think that’s all it should be. No…sex stuff since it gets confusing.”

“Really?” Kagami asked, he was defensive, like he couldn’t believe Aomine had thought this idea up all by himself.

That pissed Aomine off. He was supposed to be the angry one, not Kagami.

Half of him wanted to stop seeing Kagami altogether, wanted to go back to being the version of himself before all he thought and dreamt about was Kagami. The other half wanted to keep Kagami all to himself, but how would he ever grow like that?

“It’s a fake relationship,” Aomine stated the obvious and deliberately went for that point since he remembered how it had seemed to struck a nerve with Kagami before.

“Yeah,” Kagami bristled. “A fake relationship I never asked for.”

“Yeah well,” Aomine didn’t know what to say. He had called Kagami out and he didn’t know what to do or say. It had been a long time since he felt awkward with Kagami. “I’m doing you a favor by ending it. You should be grateful.”

“Oh,” Kagami said, voice laden with sarcasm. “Thank you Aomine, I am _so_ grateful. Is that why I came out here?”

Aomine couldn’t answer. Aomine never expected Kagami to be upset about it.

“You suck at this,” Kagami said. He was angry and that annoyed Aomine but Aomine stayed quiet. “Thanks for wasting my time, you asshole. Look, whenever you’re done with whatever the fuck it is you’re going through and are ready to talk about your feelings like a _grown up_ , then come find me, okay? But if you’re just going to fuck around then save it for someone else. For now, keep your weirdo friends away from me because I’m not sure I’ll be able to play your stupid game anymore. You can have what you want. We’re done.”

Kagami walked away before Aomine could retort, but Aomine didn’t even have anything to say to him.

He stood there in a daze, trying to figure out why he didn’t feel relieved like he thought he would and how come instead he felt as if all of the skin had been ripped from his body.

Did he just ruin any chance he might have had with Kagami?

* * *

Twenty-eight hours after his…whatever kind of relationship he had with Kagami ended Aomine’s phone rang. He ignored it but it kept ringing until he was forced to answer it.

“What did you do?” Kise was accusing him before he could even utter a greeting.

“What’re you going on about?” Aomine muttered.

“Kagamicchi, what else!” Kise whined. “Why did he just call me out to play basketball and then complain about you the entire time? He said you guys broke up!”

“Uuuggghhhh,” Aomine groaned and turned his face into the pillow, squeezing his eyes shut tight. Fuck, it was really over.

“I’ll admit I should have known something was up when he called me out to play, since he _never_ calls me out to play basketball! I mean, why would he? He has you. Or at least, he _had_ you! What did you do? Who else knows?”

“Kise,” Aomine managed to say through the lump in his throat. “Can we do this later?”

For once Kise didn’t fight him. “Fine, Aominecchi, fine. But don’t think I’ll let you off easy. If I don’t hear from you in two days I’ll come looking for you.”

“I’ll text you,” Aomine said and ended the call before burying his head under his pillow.

This was normal, right? His feelings were all out of whack because Kagami was the first—and only—person Aomine had ever allowed, well, _inside_ him. He wondered if he was feeling this way because he hadn’t ever experienced someone else.

He suddenly remembered the container of cookies he had gotten from that girl at the volleyball game. The cookies were gone but the paper with her number was still there and Aomine decided that he was going to use it.

* * *

For the next week Aomine avoided everyone except for his team and, unfortunately, Satsuki, though he refused to speak to her about anything.

He’d messed up, he already knew that and he definitely didn’t need any reminders.

He missed Kagami every day, and that was showing off how completely dramatic he was since it had only been eight days. It felt much longer in Aomine’s head, though, each day the weight of it all felt heavier and he was running out of patience again, except this time he wasn’t sure what he could do about it.

He was shooting hoops by himself at an outdoor court he’d never been to before in order to decrease the risk of running into anyone he knew. Kise must have spread the word to everyone who would listen that he and Kagami were no longer together and Aomine wanted far away as possible from all of that.

He definitely was not expecting anyone to approach him while he stood there shooting and scoring net after net, so he was surprised when Tetsu’s familiar voice broke the silence.

“I’ve been looking for you Aomine-kun.”

Aomine, of course, jumped about six feet in the air he was sure his head would knock against the rim.

“Tetsu!” Aomine gasped. “Fuck!”

“Hello to you too,” Tetsu said. “Do you have a minute?”

Aomine exhaled and nodded, leading Kuroko over to the bench off the side of the court. “What’s up?”

“Kagami-kun won’t speak to me. Won’t speak to any of us. Keeps telling us to come find you, except, no one can ever find you these days. Is this where you’ve been hiding?”

“Yep,” Aomine answered shortly. He was nervous around Tetsu, somehow afraid Tetsu would see right through him, or worse, he was afraid he’d flat out start crying in front of him. That would be embarrassing and Kagami would most definitely find out.

Kagami Kagami Kagami. Always Kagami.

Aomine was stupid.

“What happened?” Tetsu asked and Aomine couldn’t help it. Everything he’d kept bottled up inside came pouring out and he told Tetsu everything, all the way from how he had made up the stupid lie in the first place (and god, he was so embarrassed) and that somehow along the way it had become more than a stupid lie and more like a stupid real thing he didn’t know how to deal with.

When he was done they sat in silence for a few minutes while Tetsu processed it all and Aomine basked in half of the weight finally lifted off his shoulders.

“So it is fake?” Tetsu asked after a while.

“Originally yes,” Aomine answered, not able to look up at Tetsu’s face.

“I’m conflicted, Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said, though he didn’t sound angry. He didn’t sound confused either, more like resigned. “On one hand your stupidity doesn’t surprise me. On the other hand I am a bit surprised that you managed to take it to this extent.”

“Ugh,” Aomine said and pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “I fucked up I already know that.”

“And then you ran away,” Tetsu said and Aomine felt as if Tetsu had his whole fist clenched around his stupid heart. “Like you always do.”

“Yeah,” Aomine bit back, angry and bitter at his own shortcomings. “That’s what I meant by I fucked up.”

“And now what?” Tetsu went on. “You’re waiting for Kagami-kun to come fix the mess? Like he always does? You’re just going to make yourself a puddle and wait for Kagami-kun to feel bad enough to come pick you up so you can hold yourself together?”

Aomine paused. He was, wasn’t he?

Because if it bothered him this much then he would have fought a little harder to keep Kagami. He thought about the last thing Kagami said to him before he walked away and Aomine’s heart started thudding harder in his chest.

Was Kagami waiting for Aomine to come back?

Aomine was stupid. So stupid.

“And right before his birthday too. So selfish Aomine—”

“Enough with the guilt trip already, Tetsu, I get it,” Aomine snapped, finally looking at Tetsu’s face. He had a small smile on his face, like he knew something he would say would work on bringing Aomine back around to the present. He hated getting lost in his own thoughts. Leave it to Tetsu to haul him back like usual.

“But Kagami…does he…I mean…he—”

He didn’t know how to ask, or rather, he was afraid of the answer and Tetsu understood.

“Do you think Kagami-kun would be this upset if he didn’t care?” Tetsu said. “You’re both stupid. Text him, Aomine-kun. Or I’ll tell everyone how stupid you two really are.”

Aomine pulled out his phone and stared at it before looking up at Tetsu and smirking at him. “Tetsu, you bastard. I told you all of that because it’s strictly confidential. Don’t forget I have dirt on you too.”

“Are you done being stupid, Aomine-kun?”

“Are you done being a little shit, Tetsu?”

“I will be after we play basketball.”

“Give me a sec,” Aomine said and wiped his clammy hands on his shorts before pulling up Kagami’s number to send a text. He typed quickly and then put his phone in his bag on silent mode while he finished off relieving the last of his stress.

_I fucked up. I’m sorry. You can be mad at me forever but I want to make it up to you. I’m an idiot, you don’t have to tell me. Text me back._

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I solemnly swear that the next update won't be next year LOL

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for fake dating, and while experiencing some writer's block I thought I'd give something like this a shot and it kind of stuck. I hope it was enjoyable. ^.^ 
> 
> The title (and this story) are inspired by the song Electric Feel by MGMT. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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